The Start of Something New
by vampirediva07
Summary: It all started one year later...Brennan returned from Maluku and Booth from Afghanistan. What happens next?
1. Angela

**A/N: So, this is a little "what if" scenario I came up with in my head for a year after the end of season 5. I don't own Bones, although I wish I did!**

* * *

It had been a long couple of days for Angela. She and Hodgins had returned from Paris after nearly a year away, just a few days shy of when Brennan and Daisy were set to return from Maluku and Booth from Afghanistan. They had come home to a mess of a homicide that needed to be solved and Caroline hot on everyone's heels as they waited for Dr. Brennan. Caroline believed that the body they had discovered was that of a child that had been missing for nearly three years from a prominent family in Washington. Angela knew that Brennan would be a little more than pissed that the bones had been moved from the scene already in her absence. If there was one thing Brennan was anal about, it was keeping all the evidence and particulates intact and not tampered with. She feared Brennan's rage when she came home to the bones already at the lab without her approval. But there was little to nothing anyone could do without Brennan since they were assigning this as her first case after her return from Maluku.

Angela, still recovering from jet-lag, told Cam that she would start working on a facial reconstruction as soon as Brennan arrived and cleared the bones for cleaning. Until then, she went home and slept off the feeling of not getting enough sleep, with Hodgins right by her side. Angela drifted in and out for a while, mostly dreaming of Paris, the lights, and her year off spent just going through art exhibits and spending quality time with Hodgins as husband and wife. She also wondered in and out of her conscious state what would happen once Brennan and Booth were back on the same continent, much less the same city together. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together when you looked at them. Hell, Sweets had gotten it on day one when it took Brennan and Booth six years to figure out what everyone else already knew. They were in love with each other. Angela had seen it years ago and even encouraged Brennan to persue it and give things a chance, but Brennan was stubborn.

Brennan had even gone so far as to ask Booth to donate his sperm so she could have a child, but without the commitment of a relationship to either her or the baby that would have come from that union. There were times when Angela wanted to slap her best friend and tell her that she was being stupid…and that was definitely one of those moments. Angela had told Brennan that the right way to do it would have been for her and Booth to make love to one another to create the life she so desired to have, but Brennan quickly retorted that Booth believed it would create a bond. Part of Angela longed to tell her best friend that the bond was already there and had been there for years. Sadly, the plan for a baby eventually fell through because of Booth's brain tumor. That had shaken everyone, including Angela. She watched Brennan carefully through the whole ordeal and how she never left Booth's side, not even for a moment longer than necessary. Angela saw the concern on Brennan's face and read it in her eyes. Even an idiot could see that a mile off.

After the brain tumor, things turned back to normal in most aspects. Booth was still confused by the delerium from his coma-induced dream that he was married to Brennan and expecting a baby with her. Angela had known all along that Booth was in love with Brennan, but the dream had obviously triggered him to do something about it. She watched them struggle to understand what their partnership meant after his surgery and how they danced around the issue several times. And once Brennan announced that she was truly going to Maluku, Angela knew it was serious. Booth also announced he was leaving for Afghanistan to train the next generation of Army Rangers. Angela could hardly believe it from either Booth or Brennan. Her best friend said that she needed "objectivity" to view her life through, but she never believed that either Brennan or Booth would go through being apart for a year. Yet they had. And over the course of that year, she'd had very little communication with either of them while she was in Paris. There was an occasional e-mail here and there from either of them and a few video chats with Brennan, but that was merely it.

Sighing, Angela laid her head back on the pillow and turned to see Hodgins awake next to her. He gave her a smile and pulled her close.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, kissing the nape of her neck as she laid against him with her back to his stomach.

"Not really," she admitted, shaking her head. "I was just thinking about Brennan and Booth. Brennan will be home tomorrow and Booth two days after…"

Her words trailed off in her own thoughts. She had no idea what was going to happen when Booth and Brennan reunited. The only thing Brennan had mentioned was meeting him at some coffee cart, but other than that…her details were nil to none.

"It'll be good to have everyone home," Hodgins interjected, trying to lighten his wife's mood. "I know I've missed everyone at The Jeffersonian…even Daisy and Fisher."

Angela laughed a little, knowing that _everyone_ had been annoyed by Daisy at first, but come to really like her despite her annoyances and inability to really filter herself from talking.

"You're right," she agreed, turning over to face him. "And it'll be good to get back to work."

"Yes, the world of bugs and slime never sleeps."

Angela laughed along with Hodgins at his humor. She knew that it would be nice to have a constant place to go to each day and a group of people she knew and was comfortable with. For all the faults of working with murder each and every day, Angela loved the people she worked with. The job they did each day gave her purpose as an artist that was unique in that she gave victims back their identity. Going back to that job felt noble in a sense.

"Oh and we can tell everyone about Paris," she added, smiling as she snuggled into the pillow, starting to feel a little more at ease.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up with everyone," he added, yawning once. "For now, I think we should sleep."

"I like that idea," she replied, closing her eyes. "I love you Jack."

"I love you too, Angela."

* * *

The next day Angela woke and got dressed before kissing Hodgins goodbye as he went to work in the lab. Her job was to go pick up Brennan and Daisy from the airport when their plane landed in the early afternoon. There was a wave of excitement rolling over Angela at the prospect of seeing her best friend for the first time in a year. She quickly unpacked the rest of her and Hodgins' things from Paris before grabbing her bag and keys to head off to the airport to make it early enough to greet them as they came through the gates. She drove toward the airport in her new silver Xterra, which was a gift from Hodgins to replace her van that finally quit on her. As she drove, her cell phone went off and she saw Sweets' number on the screen. Hitting the answer button, she put it to her ear.

"Sweets?" she asked, unsure of if it was really him.

"Angela!" the other end of the line greeted in Sweets' voice, letting her know it was really him.

"Oh my God, Sweets! How are you?" she asked excitedly.

"I'm doing good and you?"

"Great! Actually on my way to pick up Brennan and Daisy from the airport right now, so I think we might be stopping by the Jeffersonian later," she replied.

"That is what I was actually calling about," he said. "I want to meet you there and greet them. Can you get me the information about what gate they're going to be at and the time?"

Angela smiled and knew what Sweets was up to. In the back of her mind, she knew that he wouldn't be able to get over Daisy like he said he would while she was gone. He was too in love with her.

"Yeah, I'll text you the information as soon as I get there, but I do know their plane lands in about an hour so you might want to head up this direction now," she said, taking the exit off the highway toward the airport.

"Okay, that sounds great. Thank you Angela."

"No problem Sweets."

With that, she hung up the phone and drove into the airport parking area. She found a spot and parked before grabbing her bag and running inside. After a little runaround with the information desk, she found the gate and texted Sweets with the information before sitting down. Tapping her toes, she waited for the minutes to pass by as she texted Hodgins and Cam with updates about the plane and its whereabouts. Her heart started to race when she saw it was arriving. Angela stood up and watched as people filed off the plane until she saw Brennan and Daisy walking together. Excitedly, Angela made her way through the people and hugged Brennan enthusiastically.

"You're home! You're home!" she chimed happily. "Sweetie, I am so happy to see you finally here!"

Brennan smiled at her and returned the hug. "I trust you didn't have issues getting the plane information this time," Brennan teased.

Angela laughed, vaguely remembering the flashing incident six years prior when she had to pick up Brennan from her flight in from Guatemala. The attendant had been rude and there was no other way of getting his attention, so Angela dazzled him otherwise.

"This time I thought ahead and got it offline," she replied, looking to Daisy. "It's good to see you too Daisy."

"Oh thank you Angela, it's really great to be…" Daisy stopped dead in the middle of her sentence and Angela turned to see Sweets standing there waiting.

Watching for a moment, Angela saw as Sweets and Daisy reunited. That relationship was obviously not over as Daisy dropped her bags and ran into his arms, kissing him fervently. Angela turned her attention back to Brennan, who was staring at her knowingly.

"Your ilia has shifted," Brennan said, giving her a smirk. "You are pregnant."

Immediately blushing, Angela smiled. "Well, that wasn't exactly on my list of things to tell you right as you got off the plane…but, seeing as you already knew from looking at me, yes I am pregnant. Eight weeks."

Brennan smiled at her and stepped forward to give her another hug. Angela was slightly surprised that her best friend seemed so personable, especially given she was usually cranky after long flights. However, she wasn't going to argue with it.

"Congratulations Ange," she said. "I'm really happy for you and Hodgins. I know that you're going to be a wonderful mother."

Angela smiled brightly at her best friend. This was the start of something good and Angela could feel it in her bones. Today her best friend had returned and in two days time, Booth would be home as well. Their team would be complete again. And she would be a mother in seven months. Life was making some strange twists and turns, but she felt prepared for them now. After grabbing the bags, she took Brennan by the lab to check in while Sweets took care of Daisy's transportation. Today was a good day.


	2. Brennan

**A/N: Thank you soo much for the positive reviews! I hope that you guys will like where this is going. Again...I own nothing!**

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It had been a long, exhausting journey from Maluku, but Brennan was finally home and it felt good. Her trip had been successful on many levels as she'd studied the interspecies humanoid remains alongside Daisy. They'd also embarked on a side trip to Australia about six months in to study the remains of an aboriginal believed to date about a thousand years. The remains were kept at the Australian Museum, which was noted for its fields of natural history and anthropology. Scholars at the museum specifically asked for Dr. Brennan because she was the best Forensic Anthropologist in the world and she was honored to go. The study was minimally invasive and proved the bones were actually around a thousand years old as was thought.

But now Temperance was home in DC. She was home and pleased to see her friends again for the first time in a year. The news that Angela was pregnant was exciting, yet not as shocking as most would think. Brennan surmised that Hodgins and Angela would eventually have children and having them a year after marriage was not terribly unbelievable. She was happy for her best friend though as Angela had always wanted children. The passing thought entered her mind about when she had wanted a child two years previously. If she was honest with herself, she still did. But, because of the implications it would mean to have one, she chose to leave that alone. There wasn't anyone else she would have a child with besides Booth.

_Booth_.

He was the single most incomprehensible thought in her rational and empirical mind that didn't make sense to her. She had spent the better part of the last year objectifying everything about their partnership and relationship. During her down time, she had even caved and read Sweets' book again about his observations of the partnership between herself and Booth. And for all the knocks she gave Psychology, Sweets was actually right on most accounts. Being away from the situation, Brennan saw and recognized that she had fallen in love with Booth. Temperance Brennan had never allowed herself to love someone before. At least not in the sense that Booth believed in love. Statistically, most relationships and marriages failed, and Brennan knew that better than anyone. She knew the facts, the statistics, and the logical outcomes for such a relationship. But a year away had given her the clarity she needed.

As Angela drove to the lab, Brennan decided to get her mind off that topic for a while and talk to Angela about other things.

"Does Hodgins know about the pregnancy?" she asked, knowing that talking about the baby would keep Angela happy.

"Yes, he was there when I took the five at-home pregnancy tests and when we went to the doctor yesterday," Angela replied, smiling as she drove. "He's really excited about being a father."

Brennan smiled. "Are you excited?"

Angela nodded enthusiastically. "I mean…you know I've always wanted kids. Kids are just as chaotic as me. And after we kept baby Andy for a little while, I really realized how much I wanted them."

"Well, you and Hodgins are going to have an exceptional child," she replied. She knew that Angela and Hodgins would have beautiful children together and that their intelligence would be balanced both academically and in life lessons.

"I also know that this baby, boy or girl, is going to be one little hell raiser if he or she is anything like me or my dad," she said, laughing.

Brennan laughed and knew how true that was. Angela was definitely one of the most spirited people she knew and even though she'd only met Angela's father a handful of times, she could gather enough to determine his nature being similar to Angela's.

"When is your official due date?"

"November eighteenth, just a week before Thanksgiving, so Hodgins and I will actually have a little family for the holidays," Angela giggled. "You and your dad should come to our place this year for the holidays, if you want…I know it's a long way off, but better to plan early right?"

A small smile crossed Brennan's lips at Angela's words. Her best friend had always been the family type, longing for human interaction outside of the lab. Angela had tried time and again to get Brennan outside of the lab to do social things, but most of the time her own social awkwardness proved to be a hinderence that she couldn't really overcome. However, Angela had never once made a comment otherwise to put her down about it. Instead, she kept trying and helping.

"I'll definitely write it down for the future," she said.

"Oh Bren…Hodgins and I haven't told anyone else about the pregnancy yet," Angela said, looking over at her. "We're waiting until everyone is back before we announce it. Keep it a secret for me?"

"Of course Angela."

The rest of the drive to the lab was relatively peaceful as she and Angela talked about plans for the baby and when Angela would take maternity leave. They also discussed the current case that they were now put to the task to solve. Brennan had received minimal details about the case, but the remains were believed to be that of a child gone missing three years previously. However, she wasn't making any assumptions or intuitive leaps until she was able to see the remains herself and make a positive identification. This would be her first official case back at the Jeffersonian as well as Booth's when he returned from Afghanistan and was debriefed before being cleared for work again.

When Angela parked at the lab, Brennan got out and shut the door behind her. They both walked in and were immediately greeted by Cam, who was happy to see them both. After a few hugs were exchanged, Brennan looked to the forensics platform to see a set of remains lying on one of the tables. Pulling out her card, she swiped it quickly before running up to the platform and looking down at the remains. They were the size of a child, which tipped her off to the fact that these were _her_ remains. Yet they were here at the Jeffersonian instead of in the field where she expected them to be.

"Why the hell are the remains here instead of in the field?" she asked, annoyed and somewhat angrily.

"The FBI forensics team brought them in without my prior knowledge or consent," Cam said, her tone indicating that she had known this was coming.

"Well they have probably tampered with or destroyed crucial evidence!" Brennan countered, finding a pair of gloves to slip onto her hands. She could still vaguely hear the conversation between Angela and Cam as they came onto the platform.

"You couldn't have warned her?" Cam asked, sliding her card.

"Not my job," Angela replied. "I was only told to go pick her and Daisy up from the airport, nothing else."

"Speaking of…where is Daisy?" Cam inquired, going over to the computer to bring up something on the screen.

"Oh…Sweets came and picked her up from the airport, so if I had to guess I'd say they're probably shacked up somewhere between here and the airport, unless they made it back to Sweets' place." Angela laughed and shook her head.

"Like rabbits…" Cam trailed off.

"I don't know what that means," Brennan injected as she examined the body closely, keeping her eyes on the remains. There was little flesh left to work with, so she could see the damage to the bones clearly. "The victim was female, Caucasian, right around six-years-old at time of death. Decomp suggests she was murdered about three years ago."

Brennan continued her examination on the body, moving up to the skull where she saw several fractures on the left side. She examined them closely, looking at the pattern of the fractures and where they spread. The bones would need to be cleaned of any left over flesh for her to determine exact cause of death, but she had a pretty good indicator right in front of her.

"Victim suffered blunt trauma to the skull," she said, looking at Cam.

"So this is officially declared a murder," Cam said, finishing the thought Brennan was having at that moment. "I'll inform Caroline first thing and we'll get to work on it tomorrow. For now, you should go home and rest."

Normally Brennan would have argued against that, but she had a lot on her mind and she needed to sleep. The full day of travel it took to return home from Maluku had taken most of her energy and she wanted to be at her best to work on a new case.

"Alright," she conceded. "Tell whichever intern is working tomorrow that I want the remains cleaned for further examination And I need any and all samples taken from the scene for Hodgins to examine for particulates."

Cam nodded and stepped off the platform to go to her office, leaving Brennan with Angela.

"You ready to go home sweetie?" Angela asked.

"Yes," she replied, snapping off her gloves and throwing them away. "Do you have the keys to my apartment with you?"

"I picked them up first thing yesterday from the cleaning lady," Angela replied, pulling out a set of keys from her bag and handing them to Brennan.

"Thanks Ange," she said.

"No problem."

Brennan took the keys and smiled. She was finally going home to rest and that was a good feeling unlike any other. Grabbing her own bag, she left the remains on the platform and walked back out to the parking lot before getting in Angela's car. The drive to her place was short, but they rode in silence. When Brennan got out, she thanked Angela for everything before getting her luggage and going up to her apartment. Checking the mail, she gathered what bills were due that month and went inside, shutting the door behind her. Everything in her apartment looked the exact same as she had left it. There was fresh food in her kitchen, which she knew Maria would have left for her, knowing she was coming home today. She made a mental note to pay Maria back the next time they spoke to one another. Setting her luggage down just inside the door, she walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water, taking a long drink before setting it down on the counter.

Taking off her satchel, she went into her bedroom and sighed. This was home. There was something comforting about being in her own home and able to actually sleep on her own bed that Brennan appreciated after spending a year in the jungles of Maluku. Sitting on her bed, she sighed deeply and looked around. There was so much about being home and in her comfort zone that she hadn't thought she would miss until now. She had lived in the same apartment for the past six years and never thought about moving. There was something to be said anthropologically about humans being programmed to stay close to their homes, but she was too tired to think about what that was right then. All she wanted was sleep. Laying back on the bed, she didn't bother changing her clothes as that would take effort that she didn't care to expend at the moment. Her eyes started to drift shut and she didn't fight it. Her subconscious drifted back and forth for a few moments in between conscious and unconscious before she finally fell into sleep. Her dreams took over her mind. They all pointed to the same thing.


	3. Booth

One year. Twelve months. Three hundred and sixty-five days. That was the amount of time that Booth had spent away from the United States. He had spent it all in Afghanistan, training the next generation of soldiers to find insurgents to bring in and question. Of course, he had done his fair share of work in the field, but he was mostly there to train the younger guys to do his job so he wouldn't have to. Booth had taken his mid-tour leave around seven months in and gone back to DC for two weeks to spend with Parker, but he didn't dare go near the Jeffersonian. He knew _she _wouldn't be there anyways, so there was no point in going. So, he'd spent his leave with his son doing father/son things that he knew he would miss when he went back over. Parker had started hockey this year, under Rebecca's permission and insistence that he be properly taught, so Booth showed him how to skate and use the stick at the same time. He was proud of his son and couldn't wait to come home to him for good. The remainder of his leave had been spent visiting with people, including his grandfather at his retirement home and Cam at the diner. Just before leaving, he went and paid a visit to Zack at the insane asylum. It was a good visit and Booth remembered why he liked the kid so much.

The remainder of his tour, Booth went in and out of war zones, taught rookies how to shoot like a sniper, and finished up the training of his original guys. He had no communication with the outside world, other than the occasional video chat session with Parker. Everyone else, he figured, wouldn't want to see this world or side of him. Angela and Hodgins were in Paris, living in newly wedded bliss. Cam had her hands full at the Jeffersonian working with some other forensic anthropologist trying to do Bones' job. Bones was in Maluku with Daisy tracking down the evolutionary track or something like that. Booth didn't actually understand what Bones was off doing on the other side of the world. He just knew that she wasn't in DC and she sure as hell was not in Afghanistan with him. But they had made a promise to each other. They were going to meet at that coffee cart by the reflecting pool. Everyday he thought about those last few moments he had spent with her, saying goodbye before she left. Part of him hadn't wanted to leave. He had wanted to stay, but knowing that she hadn't felt the same for him gave him the courage he'd needed to step away.

He thought of Bones all the time, even if he didn't really want to. She permeated his thoughts all through the day and at night during his dreams. However, he knew that she was the only thing getting him through this deployment, aside from Parker. There were times when he entertained the thought of being with her as a couple, even if he knew that was an impossibility. Bones had made that absolutely clear when she told him that she couldn't change. He had told her then that he would have to find someone who would love him in thirty or forty years, but the truth was that there was no one else. There was no one for him aside from Temperance Brennan. He had fallen in love with her many, many times over. For all of her social awkwardness and inability to relate to most people on a non-academic level, he could see the best parts of her that could. She was everything to him that he never knew he wanted. After the disaster with Rebecca, he never thought he'd find himself wanting to marry someone else again, but Bones was different. He wanted to all along and after his coma and dream, he allowed that feeling to grow stronger into his conscious mind. But she hadn't wanted it.

As Booth finished his last few weeks of deployment, he wrapped up the training and gave his guys field tests, which they all passed with flying colors. Booth was done. This was what he had come to Afghanistan to do and he had served his country once again and for the last time in the Army. He was honorably discharged, again, from the Army and given the clear to go home. As fast as he could, Booth packed his bags and was on the first flight out of Afghanistan heading toward the United States of America. The flight was long and dull, but Booth was just happy to be going home. He slept through most of the flight, dreaming of the life he wanted to have once he came back. A life worth living that he had once dreamed about before. It was a version of the dream he had once had before, where he and Bones were married. Only this dream was different in the sense that their baby had already been born and they retained their current jobs. A little girl they named Christine Elizabeth Booth, after Bones' mother and his grandmother. But it was only a dream.

It wasn't too long after the dream ended that Booth was being woken up by one of the flight attendants to tell him that he was home. He sat up in his chair and gathered his things before the plane landed. After getting off the plane, he headed toward customs and showed them the military ID that got him back into the country without any problem. That along with the fact that he was wearing camouflage clothing helped. Once he was through security and retrieved his bags, he was greeted by the biggest surprise of them all. A smaller body hit him in the back and he felt two smaller arms wrap around his waist.

"DAD!" a voice cried from behind him, which he immediately knew as Parker's. "You're home! You're home! You're really home!"

Booth turned around and hugged his son tightly, looking up to see Rebecca standing not too far behind. He mouthed a silent 'Thank you' to her before looking down at his son.

"I'm really home buddy," he said.

"I have _so _much stuff to show you Dad!" Parker cried excitedly. "I can almost do a slap shot now for hockey and I got picked for pitcher for baseball this year and Mom bought me this airplane we have to put together!"

"Whoa, slow down there Hoss," he said, laughing. "You'll definitely have to show me the slap shot soon and that airplane. Did your mom record any of your baseball games where you were pitching?"

Parker nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she recorded nearly all the games so you could watch when you got back."

"Well we'll just have to watch them all back at my place when I have you for a weekend…we'll get Mexican food and pig out. Sound good?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Parker smiled and agreed happily before adding, "And we can make milkshakes…if you don't break the blender this time with frozen candy pieces."

"Oh that was one time…and if I remember correctly, you thought it was funny when the ice cream went flying all over the apartment…and me." Booth looked at his son with a knowing look, arching one eyebrow with a smile.

"It was funny!" Parker started to laugh.

"Alright, let's get my stuff and we can get out of here," he said.

Parker nodded and grabbed a bag before taking off, still in sight of his parents as Booth approached Rebecca. He was thankful to her in many ways for bringing Parker to come pick him up from the airport. Over the years, they had come to some mutual understanding about their son and found a friendship they could both handle. Booth still remembered the early years when he barely saw his son because Rebecca wouldn't allow him to take him for longer periods of time than a few hours. But now he got to take Parker on the weekends most of the time and hang out with him during the summer and holidays more.

"Thank you Rebecca," he said quietly.

"You're welcome Seeley," she replied, giving him a hug to welcome him home.

Parker zoomed in and around his parents happily as they started to walk out of the airport to the car.

"Seeley, I think you should take Parker for a week sometime," Rebecca said as they walked across the parking lot.

Booth was slightly stunned for a moment. She'd never let him take Parker for that long ever before. He wondered what was so different now or if something had happened in her family. Quizzically, he looked at her as he put his luggage in the car trunk.

"I think it's important that he spends time with his father and you've been deployed for a year," she replied, getting in. "I've thought about that a lot while you were gone and I want him to start spending more time with you. You're a good man and a good father, so I think you deserve that right."

"Thank you," he said, not knowing what else to say as he got in the passenger side of the car.

Rebecca and Parker dropped him off at his place where he was able to deposit his luggage and change out of his uniform into a normal pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He checked the clock and saw that he had a few minutes to spare before he would have to leave for the reflecting pool. The FBI had already dropped off his SUV in the parking lot and left the key with the landlord, which he would pick up on the way out. Looking around, he knew that he was home. He was really home. His thoughts drifted to Bones again, knowing he would see her in less than an hour's time. This was what he had been preparing himself for during the last half of his deployment. Coming home and seeing her after they'd parted ways with so many unanswered feelings. She had said that she couldn't change, but the look in her eyes told him that she didn't want him to go to Afghanistan as much as he didn't want her to go Maluku. Booth had lived his life reading people's emotions and whether or not they were telling the truth. He could see so much more behind her eyes when they parted ways one year ago. Sweets had been dead on in his conclusion that they were in love with one another. The complication lived in the fact that one of them did not believe in love the way the other did.

Booth grabbed his wallet and keys to the apartment before heading out the door, stopping by the landlord's apartment to get his SUV keys before leaving the building. He found his black SUV parked in its normal spot and got inside. Even after a year and probably a couple trips to the carwash, it still smelled like Bones to him. Smiling, he put the keys in the ignition and turned it over, backing out of the parking space. He left the apartment complex and drove toward the reflecting pool, dwelling on what he would even say to his partner after being apart for a year. Would there still be that spark when he saw her or would that be gone now that they hadn't seen each other for so long? He wondered where this was all going to go from here. Would they be able to work cases together like they had before or was everything so different now that they wouldn't? All the questions left unanswered in his head drove him crazy as he found a parking space and turned the ignition off, pulling the key out and stepping out of the car, looking toward the coffee cart.

There she was.

She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was a little longer that he could see as she'd left it down. From what he could see, she was still the same Bones he'd always known and had fallen for. But he pushed that thought away as he approached her. When she saw him, she gave that smile he always loved before walking over to him. He embraced her tightly and felt her holding him just as tight. A whole year away could change a person, but it hadn't changed Booth. No, it most definitely hadn't.

"It's good to see you Bones," he said, letting go and giving her a smile.

"It's good to see you too Booth," she replied, giving him an imitation smile. Her blue eyes were exactly the same as he remembered them from his dreams.

"How was Malulu?" he asked.

"Maluku," she corrected him, smirking as she did so. "It was a very successful trip for Miss Wick and myself. How was Afghanistan?"

He smiled at her correction, knowing she would even if he had purposefully done so. "It was…the same old, same old."

"I don't know what that means," she replied.

"It was good Bones, a little dry and boring, but good." Booth smiled at her and laughed, loving the familiarity of their conversation.

There was a lull for a moment between them as they sat on the bench they always sat on to talk. He looked at Bones and smiled.

"I think we should talk," she said, looking at him.

Booth felt his heart drop to his stomach. Those were the five worst words coming from _any_ woman, regardless of if they were your mother, best friend, wife, partner, or lover. Booth dreaded the day that Bones would ever say that to him, but that day had to be today of all days.

**

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A/N: Yes...I left you at a cliffie! But there is a reason for this...you will see. Like this story? Leave me a review!**


	4. Confession

Brennan took a deep breath as she looked at Booth, telling him that they needed to talk. Seeing him for the first time in a year really hit her like a person speeding into a brick wall going seventy miles an hour. The year she had spent taking some perspective on her life for objectivity had really given her a strong evaluation of her partnership with Booth. He has risked his life on multiple occasions to save her, protected her from the worst criminals like Howard Epps and Heather Taffet, and shown her how to interact better with people. In more than one way, she knew that Booth was the best part of her. Everyone else seemed to see it too, especially Angela. Angela had seen it and told Brennan all along that she should give things a chance, much to Brennan's dismay and annoyance since she had never believed in love. Her rational explanation was that love was just a chemical released in the brain caused by the body's reaction to physical intimacy or closeness with someone. But in the year that she had spent away from Booth, rationality about that topic had really done nothing to explain why she felt so alone without him. She had tried to explain it away to herself as the bond they shared as partners, but that held up about as long as any other explanation.

She had always believed in keeping an emotional attachment away from her physical relationships, which she had so carefully done her entire life, starting when her parents abandoned her at fifteen. Even if she hadn't had intercourse until she was twenty-two, she still had kept herself at a distance from everyone around her. In high school her only friend had been the janitor, but that had never bothered her. After that, she worked through college and onto her masters and doctorate degree, but she never really had any true friendships. At least not until she worked at the Jeffersonian. It was there that she found her group of closest friends, with her best and closest friend being Angela. That was also how she came to work with Booth. Their first case together seven years ago and the following partnership showed Brennan that she could allow someone into her life as a friend. Booth, without really realizing it, had wormed his way into her life and taught her to care. He opened her up to new possibilities and experiences she had previously closed herself off to, such as the notion of love and family.

"Booth, while I was in Maluku I had a lot of time to think," she began, reminding herself to breathe.

"A year is a long time Bones," he said.

"Just, let me say this before I can't…don't say anything right now."

Booth nodded, looking somewhat confused, but he didn't say another word as she requested.

"I'm a scientist. I deal with what is known and what is certain; what you can measure and prove with facts," she said slowly, knowing this would sound all too familiar to him as it did to her. "But even science changes. When something new is discovered, things that were once thought to be true are sometimes disproved. Thought patterns are changed and new facts arise."

Brennan had been practicing this speech for weeks, even though she knew that she hated giving speeches, but she felt that Booth deserved this. The last time they had talked about this, she said that she couldn't change because she didn't know how. He had put himself out there and she had rejected him. This time it was her turn. As Sweets would put it, she was making her own '_leap of faith_' even if she didn't believe in religion or understand it. She was still putting herself out there for the first time.

"What are you saying?" he asked, looking at her.

"I want to give this a chance," she finally admitted, feeling her heart racing in her chest and her stomach tying itself in knots. She had no idea how he would feel after a year apart, but she had to do this. "You said that you were _that guy_ to me a year ago. And I rejected you because I said I didn't have your kind of open heart. That wasn't true…I was afraid of what I didn't understand. What I couldn't explain with science made me fearful."

"You want to give this a chance?" he asked.

Brennan nodded. "If you don't want to, then I understand and accept that you've moved on. Like you said, a year is a long time. Humans, by nature, are easily distracted by other things…"

She trailed off, knowing she was just chattering unnecessarily. In that moment, she felt nauseous and like she wanted to retch right there in front of him. Emotions were not something that Temperance Brennan understood or put stock in the way she did science. But this was out of her hands and control. For the first time in her life, she relinquished control to something she didn't understand.

"Bones," he said, taking her hand which shocked her and caused her to jump. "You don't know how long I've waited to hear those words."

"Which ones?" she asked, a little confused by what he was referring to.

"The part where you said you wanted to give this, us, a chance," he replied.

"You didn't move on?" she inquired.

Booth shook his head. "No, I didn't. You were in my thoughts all the time in Afghanistan."

"That's physically impossible," she said. "You would have had to sleep sometime and you aren't able to control your thoughts during sleep."

A deep laugh came from Booth as he looked at her. "Yes, but I dreamed too, Bones."

Brennan offered him a genuine smile before closing the gap between them and kissing him. There was a lot of passion behind the kiss as she raised both her hands to cup his face. Her tongue slid over his as she opened her mouth slightly to allow him access. She felt his arms wrapping around her and holding her close.

Brennan's mind wandered back to seven years previous, when they had worked their very first case together. She had been initially attracted to him because of his behavior and ability to make her see things that she otherwise wouldn't have. The memory of the night in the bar where they'd gotten drunk and almost spent the night together surfaced.

"_We are not spending the night together,"_ she had told him on the steps outside of the bar.

"_Of course we aren't. Why?"_

"_Tequila"_

She had gotten in that cab and shut the door when he'd flagged it down and she rolled down the window.

"_Hey!" _She looked at him curiously. _"Hold-hold that cab. Hold that cab! Hey, so are you afraid that when I look at you in the morning that I'll have regrets?"_

"_That would never happen."_

Part of her wished she had gone through and had sex with him then, but she knew that if they had, their partnership would have never worked. They would have never built the relationship they had now with one another based on trust and mutual friendship. Sweets had said that they had missed their moment then, which she had no idea what that meant, but now she did. That hadn't been their moment. This was.

As they kissed, Temperance felt herself letting go of everything for just that moment. Rationality was out the window and she allowed herself to just be…a woman. The taste of his tongue was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before and she wanted more of it. Six years of sexual tension toppled over. There was no barrier now. It had taken her so long to build that wall to keep others out, but Booth had chipped away at it for years and it had finally come crashing to the ground. Even though she still didn't quite grasp the concept of love that didn't involve explaining it as a chemical in the brain, she did understand that the one person she could not live without anymore was Booth. She cared for him in a way that she had never cared for another human being before. And that was enough explanation for her for the moment.

When she broke their kiss, she looked into his eyes and sighed. They were the same comforting chocolate brown color that she'd always known. But there was something different about the way he looked at her now that she could see. She had always seen the caring and protective nature in them, but there was now something softer that she couldn't quite name. Smiling at him, she moved her hands from his face.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked.

A small smirk crossed her lips as she nodded. "My place?"

"Okay," he agreed.

Brennan stood up and looked back at him. "Angela dropped me off earlier since my dad still is using my car. Did you bring yours?"

Booth rose from the bench and reached into his pocket for the keys, pulling them out and jingling them. "FBI brought it by this morning and dropped it off for me."

"Good," she said, smiling.

She followed Booth across the way to where he had parked his SUV. Getting in, she watched as he started the engine and backed out of the space before putting it in drive. They had done this so many times before that it was comfortable to ride in the same car with him, even if she had noted several times before that she should drive because she was the better driver of the two of them. But, now didn't seem like the right time to start that up again. There would be plenty of time for her to jump back into their old routines now that they were both home from the opposite sides of the world. Everything seemed right now that they were back together in the physical sense that they weren't in Afghanistan or Maluku. As he drove, they talked about everyone back at the lab for a while. Brennan didn't mention Angela's pregnancy, as promised, since Angela and Hodgins wanted to announce that news to everyone in due time. She did mention that Wendell had received his doctorate degree, as well as all the other interns, minus Daisy. Her dissertation was being presented the following week since she had been away in Maluku, but Brennan had written a letter of recommendation that complimented Daisy's work in both the lab and Maluku, so she was certain that her last intern would receive her doctorate soon enough.

When they arrived at her apartment complex, Booth parked in an open spot before they both got out and went into the building. Brennan got her keys out and unlocked her apartment, stepping inside and letting Booth in after her. She shut the door and locked it behind them before putting her keys on a counter. Shedding her coat, she put it on one of the hangers in the front closet. Looking at Booth, she could sense some of the tension of the situation, but she knew that it would wear off once everything settled in. This was real though and she wasn't backing out of it because of fear.

After a moment, Booth walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in as he kissed her. His lips formed against hers and moved in a pattern that Brennan quickly matched. Her hands rested on his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath the thin fabric of his t-shirt. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the shirt and she wanted to be closer, _needed_ to be closer to him right then and there. Stopping only for the briefest moment, she lifted his shirt off and discarded it on the floor. Her hands traced along the muscles of his chest. She had seen him shirtless before, but this was so much different than before. She could feel herself becoming aroused at the sight of him. Leaning forward, she felt herself being drawn into another kiss and she didn't fight it. Booth was the one thing she wanted and needed to feel everywhere at once. His hands moved around to her front as he unbuttoned her shirt slowly and teasingly.

Once her shirt hit the floor, she knew that she wasn't turning back now. She had backed out of this once before, albeit drunkenly, but she had still backed out. This was not the case this time. She back up through her apartment still kissing him as she went toward her bedroom. When she reached the door, she kicked off her heels and hopped up, wrapping her legs around Booth's waist. Booth carried her over to the bed and sat down with her in his lap on the edge of the bed. Brennan kissed down the side of his neck before pushing him back onto the bed slowly. Her hands traced down his chest as she sat on his hips until she reached the top of his pants. She unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped them before sitting up on her knees to tug them down off his hips. She saw his shoes were already deposited on the floor with her heels and smiled. He lifted his hips and allowed her to rid him of his pants, which she also threw on the floor with the growing pile of clothing.

Booth reached up and unbuttoned her own jeans and she wiggled out of them quickly before they wound up kicked off the bed. Leaning down, she kissed him again, feeling his bare skin against hers. It was the most amazing feeling she had ever experienced before. Brennan considered herself rather experienced sexually, but this was entirely different now that she was mixing both emotions and physical intimacy. Running her hands down the length of his sides, she began to push at the edge of his boxers. After another minute, she had successfully removed them as well, leaving only her undergarments between them. Her heart was racing, but she felt comfortable like this, with him. She felt his hands move down her curves to the top of her panties before they were pushed off and thrown somewhere in the room she could only guess.

Without warning, Booth rolled her over so that he was on top, but Brennan didn't argue. Her mouth was too busy anyways as he kissed her once again. She felt his erection rub against the inside of her thigh and she pushed her hips upward. More than anything, she needed to feel him inside of her. That was a need that only he could take care of. Wrapping her legs around him, she pulled him closer. A moment later, she felt one swift thrust before Booth was buried inside of her. The feeling of him took her breath away momentarily as she arched her back and moaned. Her nails raked down his back starting near his shoulder blades as he kissed the side of her neck. Feeling him pull nearly all the way out, she whimpered until he plunged back in almost deeper than he had before, making Brennan nearly cry out from pleasure.

His thrusts soon became a rhythm that Brennan followed. Their passion for one another overcame rational thought and everything became instinct. Brennan pushed him over and followed, keeping him inside of her as she started thrusting on top of him. The feeling of his skin on hers was right. Their tongues danced as they kissed and she could feel herself becoming close as her muscles started to tighten. She could tell that Booth was close too, but she didn't know how close. Her hips kept thrusting against his until finally she was pushed over the edge and screamed his name right as she came. With a shudder, Booth orgasmed not too long after she did as she felt him go flaccid within her. Brennan collapsed on his chest, too sated to care about moving or pulling him out of her. In fact, she liked the feeling of having him still inside of her as she laid on his chest. Looking up at him, she smiled and didn't say anything. Instead, she kissed his bare chest and laid back down against his heart where she could hear it beating. His hands traced up her back and held her close. This was where she wanted to be. No where else mattered more.

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A/N: And all of Bones fandom rejoices! Love this? Leave me a review and I will get to posting the next chapter!**


	5. Happy News

Angela woke up to the sound of an alarm blaring next to the bed. It was just after six in the morning and she and Hodgins had to be at work at eight. They had a murder to solve. And since that Booth had returned home two days prior, they would all be working full force on their first case since coming back. He was supposed to be reinstated into the FBI that morning, so Angela knew that Brennan would want to get to work right away. Laying back on the pillow after shutting off the alarm, Angela sighed deeply and ran her hand along her stomach where she knew her baby was nestled safely. The thought was still settling in that she was going to be a mother by the end of the year, but it was a wonderful thought that she couldn't help but love. She had always wanted kids and having Hodgins' kids was just all the better because she loved him.

Hodgins stirred beside her after a minute or two and he turned over to face her, smiling as he ran his hand over hers on her stomach. The look on his face had been priceless when she had taken that first positive pregnancy test. However, she'd had one false positive before during her relationship with Wendell. But with every subsequent positive test that followed, their excitement had rose. By the time they tried the fifth test, Angela had called her gynecologist and made an appointment to confirm the pregnancy. When they got the positive result from the blood work, she had almost cried from happiness. The doctor told her that she was eight weeks along and that everything looked fine. They scheduled an appointment for two weeks later for their first ultrasound.

"We gotta get up for work," Hodgins said softly, leaning over and kissing her lips.

Angela scrunched her nose and smiled. "Do we have to? I mean…we could always go back to Paris and have the baby there."

He laughed and kissed her again. "We could, but I think that they would need us at the lab. There aren't many people that can effectively work with Dr. Brennan and Booth. Plus I don't think Cam wants to break in a new forensic artist or bugs and slime guy."

Angela laughed and rolled her eyes. "Okay…you incorrigible man you, I'll get up and get ready for work."

"I knew you would," he said, laughing as he got out of bed. "Besides, it's Booth's first day back and I know you don't want to miss that. It should make for an interesting day at work."

"You got me there," she said, pushing the covers off. "I haven't talked to Bren since she got back, so I'm wondering what's up there."

"Who picked up Booth from the airport?" Hodgins asked as he went into the bathroom and started to brush his teeth.

Angela went to the closet and picked out a pair of her dress pants that would fit looser and a comfortable silk top. She wasn't exactly showing yet, but she wanted to be relaxed in her clothing.

"Actually…I have no idea who was supposed to pick him up." Thinking about it for a minute, she figured that Booth would probably catch a cab home or something, but then again she didn't ask Brennan about it.

Hodgins spit out the toothpaste in his mouth before speaking. "Do you think…?" he trailed off in mid-thought.

Almost immediately, Angela caught onto what he was suggesting, but she really didn't think that Brennan would've picked him up. She shook her head as she pulled her pants on. "No…I think he probably caught a cab or had someone else come pick him up."

"You're probably right. I mean, that would be a little awkward wouldn't it?"

"Probably a little more than awkward. Neither of them have seen each other for a year and we all know how Booth felt…Brennan too, but she was in denial." Angela knew that better than anyone else at the lab since she was Brennan's best friend.

"We'll see, I guess," Hodgins said, walking out of the bathroom into the closet to get his clothes for work.

Angela stepped into the bathroom and brought out her makeup and curling iron. Turning the curling iron on, she set it aside to heat up while she did her makeup. Once that was done, she curled her hair and put it into a low ponytail with her bangs swept to the side. It was easy enough and she was finished getting ready within an hour. By the time she was done, Hodgins was ready to go. They left their house and grabbed something to eat on their way to work from the diner. When they arrived, Cam was already there as well as Brennan. They were working on the body on the platform. The bones were cleaned and ready for Angela to do a facial reconstruction.

Taking the skull, she went to her office and started putting the tissue markers on so she could sketch a face. The case they had taken on was that of a child, which was especially sensitive to Angela now that she was expecting her own. She had always hated working on cases where children were involved, but now that feeling was doubly so. As she put the markers on, she could start to see the face take form of a little girl. Fine pieces of hair left behind on the skin told them that she had been blonde, so Angela started to sketch a portrait of a six-year-old little girl with blonde hair. She didn't have a definite eye color, so she guessed that they were once blue. When she was finished, she was staring into the face of a darling little girl with dimples and twinkling blue eyes. It was difficult to look at, so Angela had to put it down. Her stomach started to turn, so she made a b-line for the bathroom and vomited the contents of her stomach up.

"Damn morning sickness," she cursed to herself, sitting back and holding her hand to her stomach.

"Are you alright?" a voice asked from outside of the bathroom door, causing Angela to nearly jump out of her skin. Fortunately, it was just Brennan and not someone else who didn't know about her pregnancy.

"Oh, it's just you…" she said, relieved as she stepped out. "I'm fine…it's just morning sickness."

"It's normal for women to feel sick during the first trimester of pregnancy because of the human chorionic gonadotropin levels being at their highest. It also means the placenta is developing normally," Brennan explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "You should start feeling better in about a month or so once your HCG levels decrease."

"Oh…that makes me feel _so _much better," Angela said somewhat sarcastically before feeling a bit horrible for her remark since Brennan was only trying to help. "Sorry Bren, that was a little bit mean of me to say. I'm a little bit cranky this morning too."

"You're forgiven," her best friend said. "I actually came to see if you were done with that facial reconstruction for the victim."

"Yeah, it's right over here," she replied, stepping back into her office and retrieving her sketch pad from the couch. The skull was still propped on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Angela handed her the sketch of the victim that she had completed a few minutes prior. Brennan took the drawing and looked at it for a moment, studying the features to make sure they were perfect. Angela had never been wrong before on a victim's drawing, even down to the child who looked like an old woman because of an advanced aging disease.

"Have you put this out on the Missing Person's database?" Brennan asked, handing it back to her.

"Not yet," she replied, taking the sketch back. "I was about to scan it in when I got sick, but I'll do that right now actually."

Taking the sketch over to her computer, Angela scanned it in before uploading it to the Missing Person's database, hoping they would have a hit on it within the hour. Usually it worked pretty well, so all they had to do was wait and then confirm with dentals the identity of their victim.

"So, Booth is officially back?" she tentatively asked, looking up at Brennan from her computer.

"Yes, he is," Brennan replied. "He is currently at the FBI getting his badge and gun back so he can go on duty again."

"Oh, I see." Angela closed out the website before shutting her laptop and going over to sit on her couch. "Have you seen him since he got back?"

"Yes, we actually met at the reflecting pool on the mall by the coffee cart the day he returned." Brennan remained standing in front of Angela's couch, her arms crossed across her chest.

"And?" Angela prodded. Knowing her best friend, there was probably some detail that Brennan was leaving out purposefully.

"And we slept together," Brennan replied in a matter-of-fact tone, like Angela should have already known that somehow.

Angela sat stunned, unable to speak. She blinked a few times to make sure she was really awake, pinching her own arm as well to make sure that this was really real and that Brennan had just said what she thought she said. Sure enough, she was really there and hearing this.

"Wait, wait, wait…you slept with Booth?" she asked, wide-eyed and mouth agape in shock. "As in you got all naked and devoured each other in a passionate frenzy?"

"I'm not sure what that means, but yes, we had sex-several times in fact," Bren replied, walking over and sitting down next to Angela.

"Oh. My. God. Bren!" Angela said, completely unable to form the words from her brain to her mouth in full sentences coherent to anyone who didn't really know her. "What does this mean now? Like, for you and Booth. Are you still allowed to work together? Are you guys together?"

Angela's mind was going in circles around what she had just heard, whirring off in about a thousand different directions at once. She had known for years how Booth and Brennan felt about one another, even if they had been in serious denial over it. Brennan especially lived in that denial, even more so than Booth. It had taken years for her to admit that she even cared for Booth and now they were finally together…at least that's what Angela was lead to believe now.

"Booth and I are going to give this whole thing a chance," Brennan replied, breathing evenly and calmly. "I'm not sure how the FBI will react or if they will allow us to continue our professional partnership. Andrew definitely will not be pleased that I am with Booth, but that is not something I really can comment on since he and I had not spoken in a year either while I was in Maluku."

"You could always just keep your relationship a secret," Angela suggested mischievously. "It would be so _Romeo and Juliet_, sans the tragedy and suicide part."

"That would be wrong and Booth would never agree to that," Brennan countered. "Booth dislikes dishonesty. It does not sit well with his moral compass."

"You're right," she said, sighing. "Do we have to break in some new FBI agent who is going to be a huge pain in my ass and cause Hodgins to get pissed off?"

"I don't know," Brennan said, folding her hands in her lap. "We should know something when Booth gets here."

"Well, until then…tell me details! Like, how did you go from zero relationship with Booth to sleeping with him?" Angela was more than giddy for her friend, which was not just her pregnancy hormones talking.

"We met at the coffee cart, just like we arranged to before our separation. I told him that I had thought about everything while I was in Maluku, taking the time to view my life objectively like I wanted to, and decided that I wanted to give our relationship a chance outside of just professionalism." Brennan paused and smiled a little, seemingly thinking to herself. "Rationally speaking, it makes no sense to me what this is right now, but I want to be with him. After we spoke for a while, we left and went back to my place where we had sex."

Sitting back, Angela was amazed by the story, knowing it had taken some hell of a leap for Brennan to give her heart to someone, especially when she hadn't believed in love in the first place. There were many times when she had wondered when Booth would chip away Brennan's outer shell that she kept up to protect herself to get to her heart, but he had. Somehow and by some miracle of God, Booth had done it.

"I'm happy for you and Booth, sweetie," she said, smiling brightly. "This has been a long time coming, but I'm glad that you've finally given it the chance you deserve."

Brennan only smiled.

After a few minutes, Brennan went back to her office and Angela went back to work on her own set of tasks to complete for the case. She checked the database for Missing Person's, but there was no hits yet. It had been less than an hour, so she had faith there would be…there always was. After checking that, she returned the skull to the forensics platform before dropping in to visit Hodgins. As she talked with her husband, she saw Booth walk through the gliding doors of the Jeffersonian lab and completely stopped. Smiling, she ran over and hugged him.

"It's good to have you back Booth!" she said excitedly. Booth was the one person in the entire lab who was most like her, at least socially.

"It's good to be back," he replied, smiling. "I missed all the squints…even though I wouldn't ever say that to everyone."

Booth returned the hug as Angela laughed and looked around as everyone started to come over to say hello. Cam and Hodgins both gave him a hug. Daisy came over to be a part of the crowd. And Sweets happened to be on the floor to look into the case where he was needed before they began looking for the murderer. Brennan came out of her office and joined the festive welcoming for Booth, smiling and looking like she was truly happy, which Angela noted. It felt right to have everyone back in the lab again after a year. This was the place where they all belonged and fit together like a tiny, dysfunctional family. But even if they were somewhat dysfunctional, they all loved and cared for one another in a way that only they understood.

Angela made her way over to Hodgins and took his hand, smiling at him. Everyone was here now, so she knew that now was probably the best time to tell their happy news.

"Hey everyone!" she said, raising her voice just enough to get the attention of everyone in their little circle. Everyone looked at her and Hodgins, which made her smile and blush slightly under the attention. Looking at Brennan, she smiled and looked back at the group.

"So, Hodgins and I actually have some news we want to share with everyone since you guys are like family to us," she said, squeezing her husband's hand. "We are going to be parents. We're pregnant."

A burst of applause busted out from their friends, causing Angela to smile even brighter than she had before. Cam was the first one to step over and hug her. Angela knew that since Cam had adopted Michelle, she was just as much of a mom.

"No false positive this time?" Cam asked, laughing a little as Angela shook her head at the memory of her first pregnancy scare.

"No false positive…five positive pregnancy tests and a doctor's confirmation," she replied, smiling.

"Good," Cam replied, smiling back. "Congratulations you guys."

"Oh my gosh that is so sweet!" Daisy chimed in, reaching over and hugging Angela. "When are you guys due?"

"November eighteenth," Angela replied. "The doctor said that the date might change, give or take a few days, but it's definitely November."

"You're going to be such a great mom," Daisy gushed.

"Thanks Daisy."

The congratulations continued from everyone in the group, causing Angela to be so happy that they were all home now. She wanted to raise their child around the people that mattered most to her, including those they worked with. When most everyone had gone back to work, Hodgins and Angela were left with just Booth and Brennan. Booth shook Hodgins' hand and congratulated them before he hugged Angela again.

"You guys are gonna make great parents," he said.

"Thanks Booth," Angela replied, looking over at Brennan after a moment. "Thanks for keeping our secret sweetie. We both appreciate it."

"You're more than welcome," Brennan said, stepping forward and hugging Angela.

Angela looked down at her stomach and smiled. This was really the beginning of a new life. Her and Hodgins' child was the start of something new, as well as Brennan and Booth in a relationship. The future was still a mystery, but Angela was perfectly happy living in the now.

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A/N: Thank you guys so much for your support so far! I really appreciate all the reviews and they really make my day and drive me to write these chapters faster for everyone! Thanks again and I hope you like this so far. Let me know and leave a review!**


	6. Back To Work

In the days that followed his return from Afghanistan, Booth spent most of his time with Bones. After her confession and their subsequent giving in to what they should have done seven years ago during their first case, but didn't because of tequila and Bones' ability to be rational, even while drunk, they consummated that relationship several times over. But, none of the past mattered now that they were officially giving this a chance. That was everything Booth had ever wanted, but hadn't fully realized until after his brain surgery and the dream that showed him the life he had always wanted with her. Booth knew that the FBI would eventually pick up on what relationship he had with Bones now that he was back, so telling them up front would probably be a better idea. But for the few days after he returned, he didn't really care. That first night he stayed with Bones, not wanting to go anywhere else.

The next day, Booth returned to his apartment and had to stock up on his own groceries since he had been gone for a year. Going shopping for something so trivial seemed weird to him after spending a year in a place where American food was hard to come by. Once he had finished that and got everything in order, he called Bones to come over and have dinner with him. He made a lasagna, which was something his grandfather had taught him to make when he was a kid, and was one of his favorites. They had eaten and talked about their year away in their respective countries. Booth listened as Bones talked about the dig she had been the head of and smiled at her enthusiasm. She was obviously passionate about her work there, which made Booth happy because it made her happy. Booth mentioned the training he had put his guys through, not going into too much detail about the things he had seen over there. All soldiers kept what they went through to themselves, usually, unless they shared it with a buddy who knew the rigors of the military life.

Bones stayed the night with him at his place that night. They didn't have sex as she insisted they needed to rest for what would happen the next day, so instead they simply slept together. Booth stayed awake for a while after Temperance fell asleep, watching her for a moment and wondering how he was so lucky. He was in love with the best woman in the world and by some miracle, she chose to love him back in her own way. After settling down, Booth fell asleep as well, with his arm wrapped around her waist protectively.

The next morning, Temperance got up and went to work at the Jeffersonian while Booth got ready to go into the FBI. He knew that he would have to speak with Assistant Director Hacker about being reinstated and also about his relationship with Dr. Brennan. More than anything, he dreaded talking to Hacker for two reasons. The first being that the man had the ability to dissolve his partnership with Bones without so much as a second thought. And the second was that he had liked Bones a year ago before she left for Maluku and Booth wasn't sure of what Hacker's feelings were now about that situation. However, the conversation did not go as expected, leaving Booth surprised about the outcome. But he headed over to the Jeffersonian to tell Temperance the news.

When he arrived, he was greeted by Angela quickly before everyone else came over to welcome him back. He was truly glad to be back where he felt comfortable, even if it was around all the egg-head smart people. These were his friends and family that he'd come to love over the past couple years of working with them. After everyone had greeted him, Angela and Hodgins announced that they would be having a baby by the end of the year, which was exciting news for everyone. Booth was genuinely happy for them and knew that they would be good parents. Once everyone dispersed and Booth congratulated the couple, they too went back to work, leaving him and Bones.

"Would you like to talk in my office?" she asked, looking at him.

Booth nodded and proceeded to follow her into the office before she shut the door behind her.

"How did the meeting go with the FBI?" she inquired, walking over to her desk and sitting down.

"I got my job back," he replied, showing her his badge.

"But what about working together? Are they still going to allow that?" she asked, looking at him with uncertainty.

He nodded and smiled. "We can still work together Bones. Hacker didn't want it at first because it mixes personal and professional lives, but Cullen argued that our rate of solving crimes is indisputable. So he agreed that so long as we continue weekly sessions with Sweets, we can still work together."

The smile on her face told Booth everything he needed to know. She was just as relieved as he was about the news. He watched as she looked at him for a moment before focusing on the paperwork on her desk.

"We have a murder to solve," she said, pulling his focus to work. Booth knew that they would work when they needed to and keep their private lives private, which was fine with him.

"Right," he agreed. "Do you have an ID yet for the victim?"

"Angela put out a sketch on Missing Person's not too long ago and I'm sending in dentals to confirm if we get any hits," she explained, standing from her desk with the files.

"What are the details?" he asked. "Caroline mentioned it was high priority."

"The victim is a child," she said cautiously. Booth knew that she was being sensitive for his sake since working on kid cases were always touchy with him. "Female. Around six-years-old. Her skull indicates markers for blunt force trauma."

"Someone hit her in the head," Booth said, shaking his head. He hated people that had the gall to take another human life, but to take a child's life was worse in his mind. Being a father also fueled his feelings in those situations.

"Caroline believes the murder victim is a child that went missing about three years ago from the area," Temperance continued. "My initial examination has confirmed only that it is a female child around the same age as the child that went missing. We'll know more after DNA testing confirms identity."

Booth nodded. "Let me know as soon as you have an ID and I can pull case files if it is the missing girl."

He looked as Bones nodded and they walked out of her office. There was something inside of him that could tell that this case was going to be one of those that took a lot longer than he wanted it to. And that didn't sit well with Seeley Booth where a murderer was concerned. More than anything, he wanted to get those people off the streets as fast as possible and in prison where they belonged.

"We're sending off DNA samples this afternoon to be tested," she continued, walking up onto the platform and swiping her card.

Booth followed and watched as she put on gloves and beginning another examination of the bones, which had been cleaned of any remaining flesh. It was all too familiar to him to be in this position, watching her work while they waited on an identification so his part of the work could kick in. Booth questioned people, used his intuition to read others, and training in both the Army and FBI to find killers while Bones used her uncanny abilities to find clues in the remains to give the evidence needed to put them away. They were a team that no one could dispute and he liked it that way. She was the first person he'd ever worked with that came from a lab that he actually liked spending time with. Eventually the rest of the team had grown on him over the years.

As she hovered over the bones, he saw her examining the skull again. Booth knew that whoever killed this little girl was a monster. She was innocent and had done nothing wrong.

"From the look of this fracture, I'd say this child was pushed into something, like a wall or door," Bones said, bringing Booth out of his thought process. "I'd need to take a look at the X-Rays as soon as they're done, but that is what I believe caused the fractures on the side of her frontal bone that lead into the temporal bone, which would be cause of death."

"Okay, get those X-Rays and determine cause of death as soon as you can," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm going to head up to the FBI and see if I can go ahead and pull those files."

"Alright," she replied. "I'll call you if any other information comes up."

"Thanks," he said. "Hey Bones, are you coming over?"

She nodded and smiled at him before he stepped off the platform and walked out of the lab. Booth knew that this would be a little weird for a while, at least until they got used to it. Part of him knew that there were things that wouldn't change about their relationship, such as her ability to get under his skin about some things and his ability to not understand her scientific jargon. But those were things he'd come to love about their relationship professionally. Their banter was always something he liked.

Booth left the lab and headed back to the FBI building and his own office where he started making the requests for the files on the McKenzie missing child case. The files were sent over to his office within an hour and he started to look them over. The case involved six-year-old Gracelynn McKenzie, who was last seen at a local mall shopping with her mother when she disappeared from sight. He poured over the official reports from the parents, the statements from mall workers in the store where she disappeared from, and the countless janitors and vendors who had seen the little girl on the same day she disappeared, walking through the mall with her mother. The McKenzie family was wealthy and prominent in the Washington area, so they thought it was a kidnapping case, but there was no official ransom demanded from the parents or other demands made. Booth saw that the last official report was made over a year ago, meaning that the case had gone cold without any leads or clues to the missing girl's whereabouts.

After going through the case files, he checked his phone and saw that there weren't any calls or texts that he'd missed while reading, so he went back and looked at the picture of the little girl involved. She looked like a sweet child, with beautiful blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Looking at her, he thought of what he would do if Parker ever disappeared like that. He knew that he would have gone nuts and never, ever stopped looking for his son. He hadn't seen Angela's sketch, but he had a deep feeling that the bones of the little girl on the forensic platform at the Jeffersonian belonged to Gracelynn McKenzie. He hated having those gut feelings about the remains of anyone, particularly that of a child, but if he could give closure to parents in any way, he knew that he would. Breathing deeply, he folded the folder back up and put it back in the box of evidence and files.

**

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A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I needed to put up some background about the case they're working on. Bare with me! Keep reviewing! I really appreciate it!**


	7. Making Love

Six weeks had passed since her return from Maluku and Booth's return from Afghanistan and life seemingly returned to normal for Temperance Brennan. The only detail that was different was that she was in a relationship with Booth. She found that the first few weeks after their return were the most difficult as they transitioned to the new dimension of their relationship, while still maintaining the partnership they had before. Temperance found that it was a lot easier to give into what she felt rather than rationalizing everything about a relationship. Even though she still waged a battle with herself sometimes about how humans were not a monogamous species. Usually, she just shut herself up before she could argue any further. Life with Booth was a lot easier because she felt comfortable with him. They still maintained their separate apartments, but more often than not one of them would spend the night at the other's place. Booth was the first that truly stimulated her not only sexually, but mentally as well. Having that was like being blind and seeing for the first time.

They were still working on the same case they had started upon their return. After waiting for six days, they had a positive identification from DNA. Their murder victim was Gracelynn McKenzie, the six-year-old child that had gone missing from the local mall. Booth had taken her with him when they informed the family that their daughter's remains had been found. If there was one thing Brennan still didn't like about working with murders, it was telling families that they lost someone. Even if she didn't understand human emotion fully, the looks on their faces were enough to tell her how they felt. This family had lost their only child. When they left the family's home, Brennan thought about Angela and Hodgins and if she ever had to do that to them. She knew that she couldn't ever tell her best friend that her only child was gone. That was something Brennan knew that she could never do, no matter how detached she seemed from emotions. She still cared.

As the investigation continued, Brennan had found cause of death, which wasn't the blow to the head like she initially thought, but instead the child was asphyxiated by something covering her air passages. Hodgins analyzed the fibers found at the scene and on the remains near the little girl's mouth, determining that they were common cotton fibers, most likely from a pillow or pillow case. Booth had gotten the security tapes from the mall and given them to Angela so she could run them through a mass recognition program to see if they could find Gracelynn anywhere in the videos and possibly get some idea of who they were looking for. Brennan wandered into Angela's office to check on her progress.

"Hey Ange," she said, standing in the doorway.

"Oh hey sweetie," Angela replied, standing up from her desk. She was fourteen weeks pregnant and visibly showing some now. "I just finished inputting all the film from the security tapes into my computer and am about to run them through the mass recognition program."

"Good. We're hoping that there is some clue on here about who took her," she said, walking in and standing in front of the screen.

Angela input the information they needed about the victim, including her height, weight, and approximate build so the program could run through the video to find her. The video started to scan as Angela finished putting all the information in that they needed.

"There she is," Angela said, pointing out a little girl wearing a pink cotton dress. "That's her walking with her mom through the mall before she was taken. That's the same dress her mother said she was wearing the day she went missing."

They watched the film for a while longer, tracking the little girl's movements through the mall with her mother until they reached the store where the mother reported her missing from. Gracelynn remained with her mother throughout the store until a point when the mother was looking at something and Gracelynn wandered off. They watched until Angela froze the frame.

"There," Brennan said, pointing at the screen where the little girl was being pulled away by a woman.

"So we're looking for a woman?" Angela asked, thinking about it for a minute. "Wait…the McKenzie's are a prominent family with a lot of money right?"

"Yes, they are quite wealthy. Why?" she asked, not following Angela's train of thought.

"A nanny. Did Gracelynn have a nanny that took care of her as a baby that they maybe fired or something?" Angela held the remote for the screen in her hand as she looked at Brennan.

"I'm not sure. Booth can ask the parents to see and if so, we'll get a name. Why are you asking?"

"Sometimes nannies get attached to the kids they are caring for because some wealthy parents don't take care of their kids as much as the nannies do. There are times when the nannies think of the children as more of their own," Angela explained.

"Well, if there was a nanny, we should have Booth call her in for questioning as soon as possible," she said, looking at the screen for a moment longer. "Is there any way you can make this footage any clearer?"

Angela nodded. "I'm working on the pixilation of the video, but it shouldn't take any longer than a couple hours before I have something better to work with."

Brennan knew that they had a lead that they would need to follow, especially if the McKenzie family did have a nanny that once worked for them. They would have to track the person down and find out where they were now and if they had any kind of alibi for the day that Gracelynn was taken from the mall.

"So, how was your doctor's appointment this morning?" she asked, looking at Angela with a smile, deciding to change topic just for a moment.

"It was good," Angela replied, smiling brightly as she walked back over to her desk and sat down. "We saw the baby's heartbeat today and got a few sonogram pictures to take home."

Angela reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of photos, handing them to Brennan. She took them and looked down at the sonogram, smiling softly. Knowing that her best friend was going to be a mother was a thought that she didn't think she would have for a while longer, but now that Angela was pregnant, she knew that her friend would be a wonderful mother.

"The baby is healthy and everything is normal?" she asked, looking up at Angela.

Nodding her head, Angela smiled. "The doctor said the baby is doing great and I'm just fine. My weight is right on target for growth. I've gained four pounds since my last check-up."

"That's great Ange," she said, grinning. "Let me know if you and Hodgins need anything."

"Thanks Bren. I'll get the video done and let you know if I get anything out of it that we can use."

Brennan nodded and turned, walking out of Angela's office and back to her own, shutting her door behind her. The X-Rays of Gracelynn's skull were on her computer screen as she sat down. Hodgins had already determined that the fragments embedded in her skull were common sugar maple, which was widely used in making doors and furniture in the DC area. This meant that Gracelynn's head had probably slammed into a hard-wood surface prior to her death. Brennan had also noted significant stress markers on her bones near her shoulder on the right side, indicating that she had been pulled and probably struggled. The thought that this innocent child had fought to free herself, but lost her battle was disheartening to Brennan in a way that she hadn't allowed those sort of things to effect her before and she wondered if it was because Angela was pregnant.

After a few hours, Angela was still working on the film without much luck on the pixilation, so they decided to call it a day and go home. Brennan went back to her apartment, calling Booth along the way to tell him what they knew so far about the case, mentioning the nanny theory that Angela had suggested. He mentioned that he would look into it first thing tomorrow, but that he was coming over after a while. She agreed to his plan before hanging up and parking in her spot at her apartment complex. After getting up to her apartment, she decided that she would take a hot bath to relax herself from the long, frustrating day of getting nowhere on the case.

Drawing the bath water, she let the tub fill, putting in a relaxing mix of sandalwood and lavender bath beads to help her relax. While the water was running, she shed her clothing and slipped in, allowing her body to relax against the heat in the water before shutting off the tap and laying her back against the end of the tub. As she laid there, she began to clear her head of the hundreds of thoughts that were running rampant. It was annoying and bothersome to think all the time, especially when you were trying to relax. But she finally reached an acceptable amount of quiet in her mind after a few minutes. After another minute or two, she heard the door open to her apartment and knew that it was Booth. She had given him a key for practicality's sake, so she wasn't alarmed. Footsteps neared the door to the bathroom before she heard a knock.

"Come in," she said.

The door creaked open and Booth stepped through. Brennan looked over and smiled at him as he shut the door behind him.

"Bad day?" he asked.

Temperance nodded. "Long day of no conclusive results."

"Hey, we got a lead that we could follow starting tomorrow," he said, obviously trying to lighten her mood.

"It's just a hunch Booth, you know I like definite results," she countered, smirking a little. "But something is better than nothing I suppose."

"You know, you're something else Bones." Booth laughed a deep chuckle from his chest, causing Brennan to smile. "Hey, you got room in there for one more."

"I think we can both fit quite well in here," she replied, her eyes gleaming brightly at his suggestion. "If that is what you're implying, which I suspect it is."

"You don't miss a thing Bones," he replied, smirking as he loosened his tie and removed his jacket, depositing it on a nearby chair.

"Actually, I don't," she said, looking over at him as he undressed. The sight of his bare chest made her smile again. The perfection of his muscles was incomparable to anything she had ever seen. And he was all hers.

By the time he finished undressing and discarded his boxers, Brennan moved forward in the tub, allowing him to slip in behind her before laying back on his chest as his arms wrapped around her. The feeling of his skin against hers in the warm water was immensely comforting and arousing. She sighed deeply and leaned her head to the side on one of his shoulder as his lips grazed her neck lightly before kissing the sensitive spot behind her ear. Her eyes closed and she felt a sense of warmth from within fill her, like she was content to be right where she was. His hands wrapped around her, grazing the delicate skin on her stomach, causing her to shiver against him briefly. The feeling of his lips on her neck was more than just godly. It was like giving life to her all over again and she didn't want it to stop. Turning her head, she looked into his eyes for a moment before kissing the side of his jaw.

"Make love to me," she said softly.

"Hm?" he asked, looking at her after a moment.

"Make love to me Booth," she requested again. "You told me once that making love is when two people become one. I want to know what that is. Show me."

Brennan looked at him with the most sincerity that she had ever given someone. There was almost a childlike innocence in her eyes as she wordlessly pleaded with him to show her the one thing that no man ever had before.

Booth looked at her for a moment before she felt his lips on her own. His hands traced down her curves and held her close for a moment before rising from the tub, reluctantly breaking their kiss. She eyed him for a moment before standing. Booth stepped out of the tub carefully and held out his hand for her, which she took and stepped out. Not bothering with the towels she had laid out, she followed him back to her bedroom, being gently lead by his hand holding hers. There wasn't any protest from her as she followed him to the room. Booth let go of her hand to move back the comforter of her bed before pulling sitting her on the bed, laying her back as he climbed in next to her. His hand stroked the side of her face into her hair by her ear before drawing her into a long kiss. The velvet of his tongue was magnificent beyond compare and Brennan found she enjoyed his kisses more and more each time their lips met.

As they kissed, she felt his other hand tracing outside of her curves, pausing on her breasts to caress them gently. Brennan gasped at the pleasure of the feeling of his hands on her. Even though they had been together for six weeks, this was the first time they had slowed down to appreciate one another. It was well worth it now that she was being washed over with waves of pleasure. His lips left hers and traveled down her neck to the top of her chest and down to her breasts as he supplied them each with ample time of stimulation with his tongue and lips. She could feel her arousal rising within her and the need for Booth to fill her. Her hands ran along his pectoral muscles back to his triceps where her nails gently raked along his skin, itching with desire. When his lips returned to hers, she whimpered in need of him as her hips moved toward his, even if he was still off to the side of her.

When Booth moved on top of her, she graciously spread her legs to allow him room. She could feel his erection nudging against her and she wanted him inside of her. As he kissed her neck, she leaned forward to his ear.

"I need you," she whispered.

She was ready for him and he granted her that wish as he slowly and tantalizingly pushed his length into her. When she felt him deep within her, she squirmed with pleasure under his kisses and touch. As he pulled nearly all the way out, she moved with him, not wanting to feel him outside of her body. He thrust all the way back in before starting a slow, steady rhythm of thrusts that sent shockwaves of pleasure through her entire body. This was the act of making love that she had never experienced before. Every muscle and nerve in her body was alive under the careful and unselfish touch of Booth. She felt a tingle under her skin that she had never had before during sex. As they continued to make love, her breathing became shallow and rapid between kisses.

When she finally came, her entire body tensed at once before an intense release and high that she had never experienced before. This orgasm was unlike any she had ever had as the high continued long after she came. Booth came right after she did and collapsed on top of her, but she welcomed the weight as it was comforting. He did not pull himself from within her, but she didn't want him to. She wanted him as close to her as possible. Looking into his dark brown eyes, she leaned up and kissed him deeply. Nothing else mattered right at that moment. Not the case they were working on. Not the fact that she felt slightly jealous of Angela. The only thing that did matter was that Temperance Brennan was falling more in love with Seeley Booth with each day that passed. And for a woman who had never believed in love before, that was a big deal.

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A/N: Thank you so much for the positive reviews so far! I truly appreciate them and hope you'll keep reviewing!**


	8. A Haunting Face

Angela woke with a start, shooting up in bed from a freakish nightmare, panting and holding her stomach. Realizing it was just a dream, she sank back down against the bed and breathed deeply to relieve herself from the panic state she had been thrown into. Her stomach was beautifully rounded under her nightshirt and at twenty weeks, she was loving her pregnancy more every day. The morning sickness was completely gone, her mood swings had evened out, and her libido was back, making both her and Hodgins a much happier couple. As she laid back in bed, she thought about her nightmare for a moment and the implications of what caused it. They had solved the murder of Gracelynn McKenzie just two weeks prior and made an arrest. It had been the nanny, Sophia Burges, all along. She hadn't meant to kill Gracelynn, but when the little girl struggled to get away her head was knocked into a door and Sophia panicked when Gracie was knocked unconscious. In her state of panic, instead of taking the little girl to the hospital, she suffocated her and carefully buried the body.

Her nightmare was of some woman she didn't even know taking her baby away from her right as it was born and she couldn't do anything to stop it in her weakened condition. As she laid there, she looked down at her stomach and knew that she was not going to ever allow that to happen. Thinking on that, she felt Hodgins stir next to her before he rolled over. Opening his eyes, he looked up at her before sitting up, beginning to get that worried look on his face that he always did where she was concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice full of concern and worry.

"It was just a bad dream," she reassured him, placing her hand on his cheek lovingly. "I promise I'm fine."

"Wanna tell me about it?" he asked, sitting up fully and looking at her with pleading eyes.

Angela bit her lip for a moment before caving. She could never say no when he was so sincere and willing to listen. "I dreamed that this woman took our baby," she explained slowly. "She just took the baby right out of my arms and walked away, like it was nothing at all. I couldn't do anything…I felt so helpless. I don't want anything to happen to our baby Jack…I…"

"Shhh," he comforted, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Angela laid her head on his shoulder, allowing a few tears to slip from her eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to our baby. I promise Ange. I promise."

"I think that the McKenzie case just really got to me," she explained through her tears. "I mean, that nanny cared for the little girl more than her parents. I could never let that happen."

"And we won't," he said. "We are going to raise our baby on our own. No nannies or help, other than family. Like normal parents."

"Promise?" she asked, looking into his eyes. Angela knew that she didn't have to ask that question at all. Hodgins always gave his word to her.

"I promise," he vowed, kissing the side of her forehead as his hand rubbed her belly.

Angela sank into his chest, feeling safe and secure again. Hodgins' hand remained on her belly where he was greeted with a kick. Stunned, he chuckled.

"Whoa," he said, in awe. "Did the baby just…"

Angela giggled and nodded. "That's what I've been feeling since about eighteen weeks," she replied happily. Hodgins hadn't felt the baby kick until now, but this was a miracle she wouldn't trade for anything.

"That is amazing!" he said, looking up and kissing her lips softly, which Angela welcomed gladly. "There's really a baby there."

"Yeah, believe me…there is. I know," Angela countered, laughing. "How excited do you think everyone's going to be when we tell them what the gender is?"

"Oh, they'll be excited. I know they will."

"I want to tell Brennan first," Angela injected. "She's my best friend so I think she should know before anyone else."

Hodgins nodded in agreement, making Angela smile. She couldn't wait to share the news with her best friend. Deep down, she knew that Brennan was way more excited than she showed on the outside. After seeing her be so loving with baby Andy, Angela knew a lot more about Brennan than most people knew. She felt that Brennan was probably one of the most caring people in the world, but just didn't show it.

"Alright, well you tell Dr. Brennan first and then we can tell everyone else," he said, kissing her forehead.

"Good…because I was non-negotiable on that," she replied, smirking at him.

"I figured you were."

Angela laughed and got up from the bed, pulling her shirt over her head to start getting dressed for the day. Her belly had grown quite a bit over the past six weeks and she was loving every minute of her pregnancy. Walking into her closet, she found a cute maternity shirt to wear to work as well as her maternity dress pants, which would fit until she gave birth as they were made to grow with her pregnancy. Angela was thankful for that since it meant she didn't have to buy fifty pairs of pants for work. As she got dressed, she heard the sink in the bathroom and knew Hodgins had gotten up to get dressed as well. As she went in and started to brush her own teeth, the baby fluttered for a minute before getting comfortable again, making her smile. Once they were dressed and ready for work, Hodgins went downstairs and made something for them to eat, especially since Angela was eating for two. She was always hungry, but usually it was only for something small, like yogurt or cheese every couple hours between meals.

After breakfast, she and Hodgins drove to work and he went to work identifying some unusual bugs that Angela didn't care to get near. Even if she didn't have her bouts of morning sickness anymore, she still didn't want to risk losing her breakfast over bugs. She kissed him once before disappearing to her office. Since they weren't working on an active murder case, she was resolved to working on reconstructing a few faces of the Jane and John Does that the Jeffersonian had in Limbo. As she worked on a skull of a female, she heard a knock at her door and looked up to see Brennan standing there.

"Hey Bren," she said, smiling.

"Hey," Brennan replied, stepping into her office. "Is that a Jane Doe?"

"Yeah, I figured since we weren't working on an active murder, I'd reconstruct some of the faces to put on the Missing Person's database to see if we can ID anyone."

"Sounds like an acceptable idea," Brennan said, smiling a little. "The sooner we get them back to their families, the better."

"I agree."

"So how are you feeling?" Brennan asked, turning her head from the skull and sketch Angela had been working on to look up at her.

"Really good," she replied. "Hodgins got to feel the baby kick for the first time this morning."

"That's a good sign. Movement always indicates a healthy fetus and that the pregnancy is normal." There was a small curl of her smile that told Angela that Bren was just trying to show that she cared.

She nodded and laughed as she felt a kick from the baby, who obviously knew someone else was in the room. Feeling her child kick was one of the most miraculous things Angela had ever experienced before.

"Come here," she urged Brennan, motioning with her hand for her best friend to come over next to her. Brennan obliged, somewhat confused until Angela placed her hand on the side of her belly. "Feel that?"

Brennan's face lit up almost immediately as the baby greeted her with a kick. "Ange…that is amazing."

The baby kicked a few more times before settling back down, causing Angela to smile brightly at Brennan. She was as proud as any expecting mother, if not more.

"We found out the sex of the baby at our appointment yesterday," she said, grinning. "I wanted to tell you first before we tell everyone else."

A warm grin spread on Brennan's face.

"We're having a girl," Angela said excitedly. "A beautiful little girl."

"That is wonderful!" Brennan said, pulling Angela in for a hug. "Congratulations. She is going to be beautiful."

"Hodgins almost fainted when the technician told us," she mentioned, wrapping her arms around Brennan to hug her back. "He said he is going to have hell keeping the boys away from our house when she's old enough to date."

"You have beautiful bone structure, Angela. Hodgins is right to worry!" Brennan laughed, pulling away from Angela.

"Well I told him he wasn't allowed to buy a gun, so he can't be too intimidating right?" she asked, laughing. Even though her husband meant well, there was no way she was letting him buy a gun to intimidate potential boyfriends from their daughter. Booth would probably do enough of that for _both _of them as "Uncle Booth".

"I wouldn't imagine so," Brennan replied, chuckling.

For a while, she and Brennan talked about plans Angela had for the nursery and when she would take her maternity leave officially. She told Brennan that she could possibly do sketches from home if they could get a computer program to digitally give her 3D images of the skulls from the cases they worked while Angela was on maternity leave. It was a side project she had been working on before she had gotten pregnant and while she and Hodgins were touring France. She had gotten the idea initially from thinking about doing work between institutions for art, but it spread to her other idea about 3D imaging of skulls for reconstruction. She was excited about putting the program together and seeing how it would work between computers.

After discussing the program and her maternity leave, Angela decided to bring up something non-baby related to talk about with her best friend. It had been three months since Brennan had come home from Maluku and three months since she had started dating Booth officially, so Angela knew that it was semi-safe to bring it up.

"So, how are you and Booth doing?" she asked hesitantly, looking to Brennan for a reaction that would make her backpedal from that conversation.

"We're doing well," Brennan answered simply.

"Like…personal and professional lives both?" Angela nudged a little deeper with her second question.

Brennan nodded and beamed. "Our partnership is intact and the same as before. And personally…the sex is great and we enjoy each other's company, so I'd say we're doing very well."

Angela couldn't help but smile as only Brennan could be so brash talking about sex so bluntly. Then again, she was used to it after being her friend for so many years.

"I'm glad sweetie," Angela said, looking over at Brennan. "You and Booth deserve happiness."

"I am very satisfied and happy."

Remaining in her office for a while, Angela and Brennan went over a few details about an upcoming benefit that the Jeffersonian was throwing as a fundraiser. Thankfully it wasn't for the Cantilever Group, so Hodgins would be able to attend with Angela without being harassed too much by society. She talked about trying to find a maternity dress that would be suitable and still make her feel beautiful at the same time, to which Brennan replied that she would be beautiful no matter what she wore. Brennan talked about having to give a speech, which she really didn't care for because public speaking was not her forte. Angela mentioned having Booth give her some jokes to tell while she was up there and Brennan agreed to that idea. As they talked, Brennan's phone went off and she answered it while Angela went over to her desk to grab her water to take her prenatal vitamin. Not even thirty seconds later, Brennan was off the phone.

"Who was that sweetie?" Angela asked, screwing the cap back on her water bottle.

"Booth. He says we have another case and he is on his way to pick me up to take me out to the remains," Brennan replied.

"Ah, always another case to be solved," she said, shaking her head and putting her water back on her desk. "Let me know when I'm needed for facial reconstruction on the victim. Until then, I'm gonna hang out in here away from whatever nasty thing is brought in. I just got over morning sickness and don't care to repeat that experience."

"I'll make sure the remains are cleaned before we give you a skull to reconstruct," Brennan reassured her. "Booth says they're mostly decomposed anyways. They were found at the bottom of a well."

"Just dropped down there?" she asked.

"We're going to ascertain if the victim drowned or was murdered before being deposited there after," Brennan answered, standing from the couch where she'd been sitting.

Angela walked around and over to Brennan. "Well just let me know when I'm needed. You know where my office is."

"I will." Brennan smiled. "Make sure you eat something soon. A few meals throughout the day is better for pregnant women."

"Thanks Bren. I promise I will. Now you go…examine and determine what offed this poor soul. Go do what you do."

Brennan laughed and nodded before walking out of the room, leaving Angela to work on what she had been previously. The face she had been sketching was almost complete. As she put the finishing touches on the face, she looked at it. Her heart sank immediately as she'd seen the face before. It was the same face she'd seen a hundred times in photographs her father kept. Angela was staring at the face of the mother she'd never really known except in a few faint memories and in pictures. Dropping the sketch pad, she started to cry.

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A/N: Yes, I know another cliffie. But more will be revealed for the patient. Thank you so much for the reviews and please keep on reviewing!**


	9. Clues

Booth sat at the bar in the kitchen of Temperance's apartment, drinking some coffee quietly. It was just after eight on a Saturday, which meant that it was their day off. Bones was still asleep in the bedroom, which was usually where he was as well, but since they found the remains of Angela's mother two weeks prior, he was determined to find out what happened to give Angela peace about the situation. She was twenty-two weeks pregnant and didn't need that kind of stress or worry. Through DNA testing, they had positively identified the remains that Angela had sketched as Lily Marie Giovanni, Angela's birth mother. The news came as both a shock and relief to their friend, who had never really known her mother. After ruling the well case as accidental drowning, he and Bones decided to take over the investigation of Lily's death. Through records, he tracked down that Lily was married to a man named Martin Giovanni, who came from a prominent Italian-American family.

He and Bones had gone to inform Mr. Giovanni that his wife had been found. The man seemed distraught, but resolved since Lily had disappeared ten years previously. A missing person's report had been filed and he had searched for his wife, but never found her. Booth read all the reports and records. Lily had married around the time Angela was six-years-old, which coincided with the last memories that Angela had of her mother before she left when Angela was five. Booth knew that this case was just as sensitive as when they were solving the murder for Temperance's mother. It was difficult and personal because one of their own was hurting. He and Bones had been working overtime to figure out what happened to Lily Giovanni and had come up empty-handed thus far, which was frustrating to both him and Bones.

Thinking on that, he heard the bedroom door open and looked up to see Bones walking into the kitchen. She was wrapping a robe around her body and her hair was slightly messy from their love making the previous night. But she was gorgeous nonetheless.

"You're up earlier than usual," she mused, opening the cabinet to get her coffee mug. "Usually you sleep several more hours after sex. Trouble sleeping?"

"Just a little," he admitted. "Just thinking about the case too much to sleep."

"We'll find something. We always do." Temperance poured herself a cup of coffee before sitting next to Booth.

"I just feel bad for Angela, you know," he said, taking a drink of his own coffee. "She hardly knew her mother at all and then…bam, she shows up at the Jeffersonian in one of the Jane Doe boxes."

"I can reciprocate the feeling," Bones said, staring down at her coffee cup.

Booth immediately felt guilty for bringing it up since Bones had found her own mother that exact same way. It was ironic in more than one way since both she and Angela worked at the Jeffersonian, but it also gave them a peace of mind that other people would never have if they hadn't worked there.

"I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. "I didn't think before I said something about it."

"It's alright," she said, looking at him with forgiving eyes. "I have moved on from that and know what happened to my mother. It's the closure I always hoped to find one day."

"I hope we can give Angela the same. She deserves that."

"We will, Booth. We will." Booth felt Bones lean into his side gently and rest her head on his shoulder. It was something she had been doing more of lately without really thinking about and Booth didn't mind at all. This side of her, the side that no one else saw but him, was something he felt privileged to see. He loved her and everything about her, from her social awkwardness to her little quirks, like saying things at the completely wrong time or not knowing what some pop culture reference was. Yet, she continually surprised him at the same time. One of the first times had been when he found "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner among her music collection in her apartment. That was unofficially their song and they would sing it every now and then.

Later that afternoon, Bones went over to Angela and Hodgins' house to help Angela put away some of the baby's things and to also tell her some of the new details they had uncovered within the last few days. Booth went down to the diner to meet with Sweets about some of the testimony that Mr. Giovanni and Angela's father, Billy, had given in questioning about Lily. Booth could tell that the man didn't murder his wife by how grieved he was by her passing. They'd had no children, but were planning to try and adopt when she disappeared. Booth also learned that Lily was an artist, just like Angela. Mr. Giovanni also knew about Lily's previous relationship with Billy Gibbons and that she had a daughter that she left behind, but said he felt no jealousy toward that, which Booth believed to be true.

As he sat down at the diner, he saw Sweets walk in and take the seat across from him. In the time since he'd been back from Afghanistan, he hadn't talked to Sweets much outside of the required counseling sessions he and Bones were forced to attend, but he did know that Sweets and Daisy were re-engaged and planning a wedding in October. Other than that, Booth knew little to none.

"What do ya got for me Sweets?" he asked right as the waitress set his own food down in front of him.

"Well, Lily Giovanni was definitely the wild child," Sweets replied. "I can definitely see where Angela might get a lot of her personality traits from."

"Yeah, well what else…_pertinent _stuff."

"In talking to both Billy and Martin, I ascertained that Lily did not like to be tied down by anything or anyone. She liked her space and freedom to come and go as she pleased. Billy, after Angela's birth, wanted a family. He wanted to settle down and raise Angela together with Lily," Sweets explained. "Lily tried it for a couple years, but eventually couldn't do it. She left Billy and Angela, knowing she couldn't raise a child."

"Alright, so she up and left her kid because she freaked. How'd this Giovanni guy come in the picture and stay so long?" Booth was slightly annoyed at any parent that could leave their child so willingly.

"A year later, Lily met Martin Giovanni and they married," Sweets started before Booth interrupted him.

"Yes…I know this already. They married and spent so many wonderful years together before she disappeared ten years ago."

"But _why_ she spent so long with him is pertinent," Sweets interjected. "Martin Giovanni shared Lily's same enthusiasm for travel and living in the moment, which is why they worked so well together. He let her paint and do her art freely while going on several long vacations with her to Italy, France, and Spain."

"What happened to that if it was so wonderful then?" Booth asked.

"Martin Giovanni mentioned they were going to adopt, correct?" Sweets asked in reply, taking a drink of coffee as it was set in front of him.

"Yeah, he mentioned they were planning on trying to adopt at the time of her disappearance."

"Family. The mention of any permanent family put Lily in panic mode that their lifestyle would change and she would be forced to conform to some housewife. She fled as fast as she could."

"That still doesn't explain how she ended up in a bone box at the Jeffersonian as an unidentified person," Booth countered.

"But it does give you a start as to why she left her husband. Maybe you could find out where she went after she left Giovanni. Where was the body found?" Sweets asked.

"In an open field that was being constructed for development, just outside of DC." Booth didn't like playing the game of twenty questions with Sweets, but he was doing this for the sake of the case since it was so personal to everyone involved.

"So we need to find out what she did after she left Giovanni and who might've seen her last before her body was found. How long ago was the body found and brought to the Jeffersonian?"

"The dating on the box says about nine years ago, so she was killed and dumped within a year of leaving Giovanni." Booth thought about his interviews with Giovanni and what he had said about his wife's personality and likes. She was an artist, just like Angela was now, so he had to think of what an artist would do if they left their husband to find space. "Do you think Lily would have set up a studio of some sort after leaving Giovanni?"

"That's a possibility. If she was a serious artist, she would need a space to work in…somewhere like a garage or open loft. Artists are serious about space to work and live in. They can't feel claustrophobic while working on something or else their work is drastically effected," Sweets said, looking at the menu.

"I should pull up any leases in the area and see if she signed one somewhere. She had to live somewhere, even if it wasn't where she worked too," Booth replied, pulling out his cell phone to make a call. "It's Booth. Listen, I need you to run lease records for ten years ago for anyone named Lily Giovanni. We're looking for any type of rental…apartment or space where she could've worked as an artist."

When Booth got off the phone, he finished his conversation with Sweets, mostly revolving around Angela's coping with everything that she was going through. Sweets mentioned that she was handling it quite well, especially with her pregnancy on top of that. Booth wasn't surprised though since Angela seemed to be a pretty put together person. Even if she had grief, she knew how to work through it and see the other side of things. When all was said and done, he could count on the fact that Angela would pull through alright. She had a lot of things to look forward to in life, including her new baby that would be coming in eighteen weeks. She had purpose.

Booth left the diner and headed back to his apartment to pick up something. It wasn't his turn to have Parker for the next week, so he was going to stay at Bones' apartment. Their life had somewhat of a routine to it where he stayed with her during the weeks he didn't have Parker and when he did, he lived in his own apartment. In a way, it was quasi living together with Bones, but not officially. Parker caught on quickly that Booth was dating Bones, but didn't mind. In fact, he liked the idea and told his dad that he had been waiting for that to happen for years. Booth knew that was true since Parker had known Bones since he was four-years-old and he was now just over ten. It didn't seem real to him that his son was ten, but he was and Booth was enjoying every moment he got to spend with his son, teaching him hockey moves and baseball pitches that he knew. Parker was also very interested in science, which worked out well since Bones loved to teach him and help him with his science homework when he asked for help. They were like a family in some ways, but Booth wasn't too hasty to use that term around Temperance in case it scared her.

After grabbing what he needed from his apartment, he headed over to Bones' place. Using his key, he went inside and saw that she wasn't home from Angela's place yet. Checking his cell phone, he saw a text from her that explained she was running a little late, but would be home soon. Holding his phone in his hand, he decided to order in Thai food for dinner for the both of them since he didn't feel like cooking and he knew that she probably wouldn't either. Dialing the number to their favorite place, he put in an order and gave the address for delivery. When he hung up, he went over to the fridge and got out a beer to drink. Twisting off the cap, he heard the door unlock and saw Bones come through the door, shutting it behind her.

"Sorry it took me so long," she apologized, putting down her bag in the chair. "Hodgins wanted me to help him put together the crib since Angela isn't allowed to lift anything heavy."

"You could've called me…I helped put together Parker's crib before he was born and I'm pretty handy with the tools," he said, walking over to her.

"It was fine. The directions were simple and most of it was just putting in the correct screws and bolts," she explained. "Besides, you were busy. How did the meeting with Sweets go?"

"Good. We're looking at places that the victim would've possibly rented ten years ago after she left her husband and disappeared. Sweets says she was too much of a free spirit to be tied down by her marriage, which is why she just disappeared."

"Makes sense I guess…I mean, anthropologically speaking, some women don't like the feeling of conforming to social norms. Their natural urge is to flee the situation if it becomes too domestic for them," she replied, stepping over to the counter in the kitchen.

"Well, it's the theory he has and we're running with it," he said, putting his beer on the counter. "We should have some of the lease information by Monday morning. Tuesday at the latest."

"This means we're getting somewhere, which is good news."

Booth nodded and decided to change topic away from the case. This was the weekend and they both needed a break. "I ordered Thai food just before you walked in. It should be here in less than half an hour."

"I could go for Thai right now," she replied, smirking at him. "Angela and I ate an early lunch before we started putting things up in the baby's room. I never realized how much stuff actually goes in there."

"Babies need a lot of stuff Bones," he replied, laughing. "They grow out of clothes quickly and all the diapers, burp cloths, pacifiers, bottles, and stuff is necessary. Plus somewhere to sleep."

"Bottles are not essential," she countered. "Breast feeding is perfectly natural and in fact, better for both mother and child."

"Not everyone shares your sentiments on that one Bones. There's a lot of professional women who don't because of their careers or because they feel awkward being in public when they nurse." Booth knew that Rebecca had been one of those people. She had put Parker on the bottle from the minute he was born, which Booth couldn't argue with since she had custody of him and didn't want to nurse.

"Well, if I ever had a child, I would most definitely breast feed, regardless of my career. The benefits outweigh whatever arguments most women have against it." Bones looked over at him with a resolved look on her face.

This was definitely one conversation that Booth hadn't expected to have with her for a long time, but he wasn't going to back out of it. He liked seeing this side of her. It was different. Walking around the counter, he came up behind her and kissed her neck, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder, allowing him access to the side of her neck. He kissed the sensitive skin there for a moment before moving behind her ear. She sighed happily and he knew she was comfortable.

Before they could go any further, the doorbell rang and Booth knew it was their dinner. Grudgingly, he let go of Temperance and answered the door, paying the guy for the food before shutting the door and bringing it over to the table where they could eat. They ate dinner, talking about next weekend's benefit for the Jeffersonian. Everyone had been preparing for it for almost two months now, so it was a pretty big deal. Temperance was one of the speakers lined up for the evening and Booth had been working on her speech with her for almost a week and a half, helping her put in jokes, which had been one of Angela's suggestions. He was going as her date for the night, which would be their first official event as a couple, even though most people knew they were dating already. After dinner, they retreated to the bedroom for several satisfying rounds of love making before Bones fell asleep. Booth kept his arm wrapped around her as she laid contentedly on his chest. Looking at her in the dim light of the room, he knew that he was a lucky man. Even with this case weighing on them, they still took the time to appreciate one another.

**

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A/N: As promised, here is some more details about Angela's mom. Hope you're liking this...more to come later. Please review! It definitely makes my day as a writer to see reviews.**


	10. Investigation

Another week came and went during the investigation, leading the team closer to finding what happened to Angela's mother. Brennan worked long hours during the week, staying long after everyone else went home, studying the bones until they spoke to her. Daisy positively matched the murder weapon to a common pocket knife, looking at the damage done to the ribs. They also learned from the damage done to her hands that she had fought back and tried to defend herself. Hodgins discovered microscopic traces of common gravel on the skull and hands, indicating that she had fallen to the ground after the attack. Booth had also found the place where Lily had lived ten years ago and found no traces of foul play there. Everyone worked overtime to solve this murder to give Angela peace of mind. Booth was slowly interviewing people that Lily knew as an artist to see if there was any jealousy toward her work or bad blood between dealers who sold her art. But they came up empty handed since everyone seemed to love Lily Giovanni.

The fundraiser came and went without much incidence. Brennan gave her speech and got a few laughs from the audience from Booth's jokes. She was glad Angela had suggested going to Booth for help on that because it made her feel more at ease about giving the speech where she felt so uncomfortable. After the whole thing was over, she and Booth along with Angela, Hodgins, Sweets, Daisy, and Cam all went to the diner to have a late night cup of coffee, or ice cream in Angela's case. They discussed the fundraiser and how lame those things were that they were all required to attend. Daisy was the only person who found the positive…alcohol that was supplied through the whole thing. Of course, Angela made a sarcastic comment about being pregnant and having to put up with it sans drinking. However, the rest of the night was much better compared to the first half and Brennan thoroughly enjoyed the company of her colleagues who had become more of a family to her through the years.

Returning to work that next week, Brennan delved back into the case full force and examined the bones over again for anything she might've missed. The defensive wounds were concurrent with an attack that she hadn't been expecting. Booth came in and slid his card before coming up to the forensic platform.

"Heya Bones," he said, approaching her as she worked.

"Good morning Booth," she greeted, not looking up from the bones she was examining.

"So, I have something that might make your day," he said, holding out a folder in his hands.

"Okay, explain," she replied, not really knowing what he was talking about. But from the smile on his face, she deducted that it was good news.

"A friend of Lily's, named Margaret Fisher, said that she remembered Lily going down to a pawn shop about nine and a half years ago," Booth explained. "She mentioned that Lily was going to buy something for her next art piece from a pawn shop called Kiev Pawn over on Georgia Avenue."

"So she was getting something for a piece she was working on. What's the significance?" Brennan asked, not seeing where Booth was going with this topic.

"That was the last time Margaret ever heard from Lily again," Booth replied. "She tried calling her cell a dozen times, but no answer. When she didn't hear from her, she figured that Lily had skipped town and gone to Paris again. She'd done it once before."

"What about when she didn't show up for years? How did her friend not know something was wrong?"

"She did. She went to the police about three months after Lily disappeared, but they told her that a report had been filed nearly nine months prior by her husband."

"So her friend didn't know that she had been reported missing by her husband, even though she had just left the marriage?"

"Apparently not. Lily told Margaret that she was just separated from Martin for a while," he said, putting the folder on the table. "I say we pay a visit to this pawn shop and see if the owner knows anything about Lily Giovanni's disappearance."

"Let me finish up my examination of the remains and I'll come with you."

Brennan finished up her examination before removing her gloves and lab coat, going to her office to grab her bag, coat, and cell phone. She and Booth left the Jeffersonian and got into his SUV before driving toward Georgia Avenue. When they arrived, they parked close by and walked in. The owner looked to Booth right as he flashed his badge and looked a little jumpy.

"FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth. This is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan," he said, figuring introductions would be better than intimidation. "We're just here to ask a couple of questions that might help us solve a murder investigation."

"Sorry, guys in three piece suits don't usually come in here, so excuse my jumpy nature," the owner apologized. "What is it that you're needing?"

"How long have you run this place?"

"About thirteen or fourteen years, give or take," the owner replied. "I'm Marcus Kiev. My family started this business when I was about ten years old and I took over for my father."

Booth took out a picture of Lily from his jacket pocket and showed it to Marcus. "Have you ever seen this woman before?"

"Yes, she's an artist. Name's Lily Gio-something…she used to come in here all the time to buy little things here and there for some pieces she was working on," Marcus explained. "She stopped coming almost ten years ago and I wondered if she moved."

"Lily Giovanni. She's dead, Mr. Kiev," Booth said, putting the photo away. "She was found in a field. About nine years ago and brought to the Jeffersonian Institute where she was identified. A friend of hers said that she visited here shortly before her disappearance."

"Oh dear Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Marcus said. "I had no idea that anything had happened to her. The last time she came in was about nine and a half years ago to get a cheap watch for a piece she said she was working on. She purchased one of the ones I had and put it on her wrist so not to lose it before leaving. After she left, she walked out and turned left before going down the street…that was the last time I saw her."

Booth nodded. Brennan listened to the man and could see how guilty he looked for letting an innocent woman walk out of his store and possibly get murdered on the same night. After a minute, she heard Booth thank the man for his cooperation and that they would be in touch before walking out of the building. She followed and walked in the direction that Lily went. Brennan walked alongside Booth, wondering what he was doing.

"What exactly are we looking for now?" she asked, looking at him as they walked.

"If Lily was murdered the same night she purchased that watch from the pawn shop, it would be somewhere close by, right?"

"Possibly. I mean, she could've been murdered days later in another location entirely. We won't know that unless we find trace evidence." Brennan knew that the possibility of finding something concrete ten years later on a street was highly unlikely.

"It's worth a shot Bones," he replied.

She nodded and continued to walk up the street with him. They stopped near an alley and looked down it. Booth started to get that look in his eyes that said that he had found something. Looking around, he looked down at the ground. There was plenty of gravel around, which was found in the victim's skull and in traces in her hands. Brennan knew that gravel was very common in paved areas, but it was logical. Without warning, Booth went over to the nearest dumpster and began pulling it away from the brick wall that it was against. Brennan didn't understand what he was doing.

"Booth?" she asked, looking at him.

"Look down on the bottom on the pavement."

Her gaze went to the bottom of the dumpster where she saw the outside of a bloodstain. When Booth pulled the dumpster completely away from the wall, she shined her Luminol light and saw the traces of blood along with more bloodstains that were left behind.

"Booth…I need to send samples of this back to the lab to test it for DNA matching Lily Giovanni. And this is possibly a crime scene."

"I'm on it Bones."

Within thirty minutes, Booth had an FBI forensics team on site and the place roped off for investigation. Brennan called Hodgins down to take samples of the gravel and blood to take back to the lab to test for matches. The entire area was combed for any other clues that might've stuck around for ten years. As they worked Brennan began to think about what they could use logistically to help them solve the murder. From what they knew, Lily Giovanni was last seen in the pawn shop buying a watch, but she also knew from the case files that there wasn't a watch found on the victim when she was recovered. The only clothing was left in the same box as the remains of Lily and none of them contained a watch.

"Booth," she said, grabbing his attention as he talked to one of the other investigators. "The watch…do you think it would've had some sort of serial number or possibly an identifier on it that would set it apart?" She stood up from her crouching position.

"I dunno Bones," he replied. "We can go back and ask the pawn shop owner if there was anything about the watch that made it unique."

Brennan nodded in agreement. "Can we go right now? I've done all I need to do here."

"Yeah, let me just tell them to keep looking for clues and we can get going." Booth walked over and informed the other investigator that he was heading back to the pawn shop and to call him if he found anything else.

When they were ready, Brennan and Booth walked back down the street and into the pawn shop. The owner looked at them.

"I saw Police lights and heard the commotion down the street…did you find something?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, we might've found where Lily Giovanni was murdered," Booth answered in a matter-of-fact tone that Brennan had heard him use several times before.

"Oh Lord have mercy," Marcus replied, making the sign of the cross on himself. "Had I known…I would've done something…maybe could've saved her. God forgive me. Right after she left, I closed up shop and went home. I should've stayed longer."

"It's not your fault, Mr. Kiev," Brennan said. "You couldn't have known something was going to happen." Logically, Brennan was right. The likelihood of knowing something horrible was going to happen to another human being was almost nil.

"Mr. Kiev, we need to know if there was anything _special _about the watch that Lily bought that night. Was there anything _unique _about it that would set it apart from other watches?" Booth asked.

Marcus thought about it for a moment, as if sifting through the watches he'd sold in his mind. It had also been nearly ten years since that night, so details might've been a little fuzzy. That would only be natural and Brennan knew that. But she hoped he might remember _something _about that watch that would set it apart from others.

"Oh…" he finally said, his face lighting up as he remembered. "That watch was very different. It runs backwards from any other watch that I've seen. It was an old gold Rolex watch that had been dropped in water, so it never ran properly again. There was an engraving on the back though…some phrase I never translated. It was Latin though and said something about God. I do know that much."

"Thank you Mr. Kiev," Booth said, writing the information down in his notepad. "We will be in touch."

When they were finished, Brennan followed Booth back to his SUV before climbing into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt. They had gained some valuable information and gotten one step closer to solving this case. She knew that they would have to wait for DNA results from the blood to determine if it was Lily Giovanni's and if the gravel from the scene matched the traces found on the remains. The DNA results would take at least five days to be done and Hodgins would have to run the samples of the gravel through the mass spec to see if they were any sort of match. Until then, they would have to wait and continue to sift through all the evidence that they had and re-evaluate things once again. It was a slow and tedious process, but the science of it comforted her. Figuring things out with science was how she helped people.

"I'm thinking that whoever murdered Lily Giovanni wasn't someone she knew," Booth said, breaking the silence.

"You think this was some random act of violence taken out on an innocent woman?" she asked.

"I think it was some low life thug who thought he might get lucky and score some cash and possibly a valuable or two," he said. "What if he approached her and tried to take the watch, but she wouldn't let him?"

"The shop owner said that the watch was basically useless and invaluable. Why would she put up such a fight for something she could easily replace?" Brennan didn't understand the logic in losing your life over something as petty as a watch.

"That may have been cheap to you or I, Bones, but to her…it was probably a prized find for her art."

"She died for her art?" Brennan asked, trying to understand the point Booth was getting at.

"Yes, she did," Booth replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Well…we aren't even conclusive as to what happened that night, so we cannot say that she was robbed or that the murderer didn't even know her," she retorted. Brennan hated positing scenarios of what might've happened. She liked the facts. Cold, hard evidence that proved what happened to victims. Booth, however, liked to think things through aloud and come up with ideas that he could run through his mind. However, she'd gotten used to it over the years and had even tried it on occasion herself.

"We'll figure it all out," he said after a moment. "It might take a while, but we will. That's what we do Bones."

Brennan smiled and looked out the window of the SUV at the passing scenery. Even though she had been solving murders for years, this one felt different in a way that she couldn't quite put together. She couldn't decide if it was because the victim was someone personal to her best friend or if it was because her perspective on things was changing because of what she was living now as opposed to before she went to Maluku. Her heart was in the work because this was Angela's mother and she knew what that was like to not know what happened to your mother. But it was also different because she allowed herself to care and not be as emotionally detached from the case. Temperance Brennan never allowed herself to be attached emotionally to any case before, aside from her own mother's, so she knew that she was different. Whether or not Booth had been the catalyst or Angela's mother was unknown to her. But she had a strong feeling that it was a mixture of both.

**

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A/N: I really appreciate all the views and follows/alerts you guys have given! This story means a lot to me as it's the first _Bones_ story I've written, so all the reviews are amazing motivation to keep going. Review and let me know what you think so far!**


	11. You Are Different

It had been weeks since Angela found and sketched the remains of her biological mother. She was now twenty-eight weeks pregnant and preparing for her own journey to motherhood. The investigation into her mother's death was draining enough, but being pregnant on top of that was even more so. Booth and Brennan were working long hours to help solve the case so Angela could have closure about her mother. They had discovered what the murder weapon was, where she was murdered, and pegged the date of the murder through a receipt that the pawn shop owner had from the credit card Lily had used to purchase the watch she bought the same night. But the real kicker in the case was the second set of DNA they had found at the scene mixed with Lily's blood stains under the dumpster in the alley near the pawn shop. Lily's was definitely a match for the first set found, but the other was still unidentified. Cam had been working on finding a match, going through databases of every known criminal in the state and within the area, but none of those had come up with a match so far. However, they were still looking.

Angela sat soaking in her bathtub, trying to relax since it was the end of the day and she was exhausted. Her eyes popped open as she heard the bathroom door click shut. She saw Hodgins walk over and sit on the ground next to the tub on the tile floor, giving her a gentle smile. Sitting up against the back of the tub, Angela ran her hands over her stomach, which was sticking up above the water level. Her belly button was just beginning to stick out from her growing abdomen. Even if she had been scared of getting pregnant before, she was loving her figure and feeling this little person growing inside of her. The baby kicked out a few times before turning, causing Angela to laugh.

"She's been kicking nearly all day," she said, smiling. "I think she's beginning to recognize everyone's voices at the lab because every time Booth or Brennan say something, she gets really excited and moves around."

"I know she'll love them," he replied, laughing. "Especially Booth. He's great with kids."

"Of course he is," she agreed. "He has Parker and has been a dad for ten years. But I think he's just naturally a good guy with kids."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Hodgins said, smiling.

Angela sighed happily and looked down at her belly, feeling their daughter squirm for a few moments before settling down and getting the hiccups. She laughed and placed her hand over where her daughter's little body was jerking. Hodgins looked at her for a moment, confused by what was happening until Angela took his hand and placed it on the side of her bare stomach.

"She has hiccups," she said, giggling slightly. "I think she got a little too excited when she heard your voice."

"Well she knows her daddy." Hodgins smiled proudly as he held his hand to his wife's belly where their daughter was moving.

A grin crossed Angela's face. She couldn't wait to meet the little one that had been growing inside of her body for months now. Their daughter was going to be one of the most loved little girls in the entire world, not only by them but by their friends as well. Everyone couldn't wait to meet her and Angela especially was looking forward to that day with a lot of excitement, even if she had a lot of fears about being a mom that a lot of new moms went through before birth for the first time.

After a few moments, Angela pulled the plug and began to drain the tub before asking Hodgins to help her out so she wouldn't fall with her center of balance being thrown off by her growing abdomen. After she was out, she dried off and slipped on her undergarments before putting on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that fit her rounded figure. Combing out her hair, she shook it out to its natural curls and decided she didn't really have the energy to blow dry it, so she went to the bedroom and climbed into their bed. Hodgins came in a few minutes later, in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt, climbing into the bed next to her. Angela pulled out a sketch pad to draw a little bit on to take her mind off of things as she began to think.

About halfway through sketching a vase of flowers, Angela started to cry. At first it came in little waves of tears, but eventually she had to set the sketch pad down. Hodgins was immediately alarmed and scooted to his wife's side, taking her in his arms. Allowing herself to be comforted, Angela turned and laid against her husband's side, burying her face into his shoulder as she started to sob.

"What if I'm like her?" Angela asked through her sobs, trying to breathe as much as she could manage.

"Like who?" Hodgins asked, thoroughly confused.

"My mother," she replied. "What if I'm like her and decide one day when our daughter is five or six-years-old that I can't be a mom anymore and just leave? I mean, what kind of mother just does that to her child? Did she not love me? What if I'm like her, Jack, and I just abandon my child?"

Hodgins sat there, holding her and stroking her hair gently as she cried. "You're not like her, Ange. Not in that aspect at all."

"But there's so much scarily similar about us…she's was an artist, I'm an artist. She was a wild child and so am I. I get so much of that from her…how is it possible that I won't feel the same in a few years that she did?"

"Because, unlike your mom, you are ready to be a mother. You've wanted this baby from the moment we found out we were going to have her," he said gently, kissing her forehead lovingly.

"How can you be so sure of all of this?" Angela looked up at her husband and into his eyes with tears streaming down her face.

Hodgins kissed her lips once. "I know you. And I've known you for years, even before we fell in love and got married. You are a caring person that loves those close to you. You're loyal. You've stuck by Dr. Brennan's side for seven years now as her best friend, when Zack went crazy and started following a psycho cannibal killer, you were still his friend, and you chose to love me…despite all my crazy conspiracy antics and weirdness."

A small, but definite smile crossed Angela's lips. Hearing the words from him made her realize how true that they were. She had friends that she was loyal to and had stayed in one place with for long periods of time. There was no plan to go anywhere away from any of them anytime soon either. Angela was happy with her life and satisfied with being a wife and soon to be mother, along with being an artist. The wild child, good-time girl had finally been tamed into someone who still loved to have a good time, but liked being at home too. She didn't know how it happened or when, but it had and she was content with that.

"Okay, you got me," she said, somewhat relieved as the tears began to stop and her breathing evened out.

"You're going to be an amazing mother, Angela," he said, kissing her lips once. "Our daughter is going to love you so much and you are going to teach her all the things I can't teach her, like how to wear makeup…and other girl stuff that I can't even begin to comprehend."

"You're right," she agreed.

Angela laughed and laid her head on her husband's shoulder, breathing deeply and letting his scent fill her hypersensitive nose. Hodgins had always known how to comfort her and make her feel better about any situation that arose between them or in her life. When she had gone through a pregnancy scare while dating Wendell, he offered to step up and be her guy in whatever way she needed him to be there for her. At that moment, she realized that she loved him more than she could possibly ever describe and that she could commit to one person for the rest of her life. And she had. Her marriage to Hodgins had made her happier than she had ever been with anyone before.

The next day at the lab went the same as many others had before it. Angela remained in her office most of the day, working on sketching faces of other remains that needed to be identified from Limbo. Thankfully none of them had any chance of being related to her at all as they were all World War II remains that had been found in battlefields and brought back home. As she worked, she felt her daughter kick nearly all morning. It was only mildly uncomfortable as her daughter found her kidneys to use as soccer balls, but she was getting used to the constant movement when she was still. It was as though the baby didn't like not being rocked, which was going to be a problem once she actually was born since she and Hodgins only had so much energy between them. Thankfully, they'd invested in a baby swing to help. Her attention was devoted to the current sketch she was working on when she heard a knock at the door. Looking up, she saw Booth and Brennan standing there.

"Hey guys, come in," she said, putting down the sketch.

Brennan walked in, followed by Booth before both of them sat down on the couch. From the looks on their faces, there was some possible good news.

"We might have a possible suspect in your mother's case," Booth said, looking at Angela.

Angela looked at Booth with a hopeful gaze. "You found the match for the DNA in the blood stain?"

"Yes," Brennan replied. "Cam found the match yesterday. Booth has been working on finding the suspect to bring in for questioning."

"His records have him in and out of jail for the last six or seven years, but he had a record during his teenage years for theft and armed robbery. He was out of jail at the time of the murder." Booth held a folder in his hands that Angela assumed was the record of the man they were going after.

"How soon will you know for sure?" Angela asked, hoping that this would all be over soon.

"We need to bring him in for questioning first and then we can go from there," Booth answered, giving Angela a sympathetic gaze.

Angela nodded. "Okay, please just let me know once things start happening. I just want this to all be over before the baby comes. My family needs a fresh start."

Booth nodded before excusing himself from the room to go check on something by phone, leaving Angela alone with Brennan. She sighed deeply and leaned back on the couch, pulling her hands over her belly instinctively. The baby stretched out before curling up again, causing Angela to wince slightly. Concerned, Brennan moved over to sit next to Angela.

"Are you alright?" Brennan asked.

"I'm fine," Angela replied, breathing deeply. "The baby was just stretching out and it sometimes hurts if she does it too far."

"How are you doing…considering everything?" Brennan continued.

"About as good as anyone expects, I guess," she said, sitting up a little to look at her best friend. "I mean, I never really knew my mother…not in the way that most girls know their mom. She left when I was five and before I could really have any memories of her at all, but I still feel emotionally attached to the woman that is out there on that table."

"Anthropologically speaking, most children feel an attachment to their parents, whether they are present or not," Brennan said gently.

"I just never knew her…you know?" Angela swallowed hard and breathed deeply. "I sometimes wonder if I'm like her. Or if I'm totally opposite of her."

"I think you are just…you." Brennan smiled at Angela. "You are not your mother and not anyone else but Angela."

Angela gave a small, but definite smile at Brennan. "Thanks Bren. I really appreciate all that you and Booth are doing for this case. You guys are true friends."

"You're welcome Ange."

Angela reached forward and drew Brennan into a hug before smiling at her best friend. In the years that they had been friends, Angela had never seen Brennan happier than she was and had been lately. She knew that a large part of it was thanks to Booth, but Brennan just seemed different too. Whatever revelation she'd come to in Maluku had obviously done her good.

"Hodgins and I actually wanted to ask you something," she said, looked at Brennan again.

"You know you can ask me anything," Brennan said.

"We wanted you to be the baby's godmother," she replied. "The godmother is one of the most important people in her life. And since you're my best friend…we wanted that person to be you."

Looking at Brennan, she saw the look of shock on her face before she started to grin brightly, pulling Angela in for another hug unexpectedly. "Yes, I accept. I would love to be her godmother Ange. I'm honored that you asked me."

"You are the closest thing I've ever had to a sister, so I know that my daughter is going to love you," she beamed happily. "Hodgins and I totally agreed on that."

"You and Hodgins are going to be great parents," Brennan said. "You're going to have a beautiful daughter."

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "I can't wait to meet her and hold her in my arms."

After a few minutes of talking, Brennan excused herself to go back to the forensic platform to look for more clues. Angela went back to the sketch for a while, just working on the outlines of the face, focusing on the strong chin and cheek bones. While working on it, she began to feel a few cramps in her lower abdomen, but dismissed them after a minute when they went away. She continued to sketch until another wave of pain hit her and she knew that something wasn't right. As she stood, she looked down at her light dress pants and saw blood. A wave of panic washed over her as she reached for her phone and immediately felt weak in her legs, causing her to stumble back and drop to her knees.

_Oh God no…please no… _she thought frantically.

As she reached for her phone again, the room started to spin and she braced her hands on the floor before everything went black.

**

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A/N: SO sorry I haven't updated this in a week...I had band camp and school is starting Monday for me. I promise to try and update once a week, but bare with me! And I'm sorry about the cliffie...again. Please review if you like this story!**


	12. Scared

Booth left the room to call his contact at the FBI building to see if they had found the suspect yet. To his dismay, they were still working on it and tracking where the guy was last seen. Disappointed and frustrated, he hung up the phone and shoved it back in his pocket in time to see Bones leaving Angela's office to go back up to the forensic platform. He swiped his card and joined her up there, shoving his jacket back and putting his hands on his belt just above his hips. It was something he always did when he was exasperated or thinking. He watched as Bones began working with the remains again, looking over what she could've missed that might give them more clues into what happened the night Lily Giovanni was killed. It was her method when she was trying to do something productive to distract her from the monotony of waiting for a suspect. Booth knew that better than anyone.

"No good news from the FBI?" she asked, not looking up from her work.

Booth sighed. "No. They're still trying to track down this guy. Since he doesn't use credit cards or any other form of identification for purchases, it's harder."

"Some people prefer to use cash as a means of payment," she offered. "Many cultures still use the bartering system for payment. It's very common."

"Yeah, well this is America, Bones. Everyone has a credit card…even my Pops has one," he retorted. "I figure if he doesn't have one, it's just a matter of time before he steals again and gets caught red handed."

"How long has he been out of prison since his last sentence?" she asked, picking up one of the rib bones to examine.

"Almost a year, so he's got to be itching to take something that isn't his." Booth knew that most guys like the one they were after were guys of habit. It was just a matter of means and opportunity for them.

"We'll get him, Booth," she said reassuringly.

He nodded in agreement. They always got their guy. No matter what case they were working, he and Bones were the best and they always got the bad guy. "How is Angela holding up during all of this?"

"Rather well for being twenty-eight weeks pregnant," Bones replied. "The high stress situation might have some effects on the pregnancy, but so far I haven't noticed anything distressing."

Booth nodded. He was hoping that they would have everything done and over with by the time that Angela and Hodgins had their baby. She didn't need the stress anymore than anyone else that was pregnant. Everyone needed to focus on the joy of a new life coming into the world instead of one that had left.

"I'm going to tell her what's going on," Booth said, going down off the platform and toward Angela's office. He knew that the news would be disappointing since they didn't have the suspect in custody, but he felt that she deserved to know the progress. And they had told her they would let her know what was going on throughout the whole process. As he walked, he thought of how hard this was for Angela. Even though she'd never really known her mom, she still felt close to her in a way. Booth could see that written all over her face each time they talked about her mother or the case in general. He felt bad that this all had to happen at a time when there should have been just joy.

As he walked to her office, he knocked on the door before walking in. He didn't see Angela sitting at her desk and glanced to the floor before seeing her collapsed onto her side, unconscious on the floor. Immediately rushing over, he pulled out his phone and dialed 911 before giving them the information. As he was on the line with the operator, he checked Angela's breathing.

"BONES! HODGINS!" he yelled out, hoping they would hear him from her office. "BONES! HODGINS! I NEED YOU IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

He checked Angela's vitals and could tell she had a pulse and was breathing, but both were weak. He checked her stomach and felt that the baby was still moving. After another minute had passed, Bones came running into the room and immediately to Angela's side.

"What happened?" she asked, completely panicked.

"I dunno, I walked in and found her unconscious on the ground. I just called the paramedics and they're on their way," he explained. "Where the hell is Hodgins?"

"I'll go get him," Bones replied, getting up and running out of the room.

Booth stayed by Angela's side, keeping close watch on her in case something happened that he needed to tend to with CPR. The ambulance was on its way and they would get Angela to the hospital. Hodgins came rushing into the room about a minute later with Bones right behind him, both completely worried and panicked about Angela.

"You called the paramedics?" Hodgins asked, getting to his wife's side and taking her hand.

Booth nodded. "They're on their way. It's going to be okay Hodgins."

Booth exchanged glances with a worried Hodgins. He could tell that there were about a million things going through Hodgins' mind right then about his wife and unborn child. Things only another father and man who had loved a woman that much could understand. He knew that if the situation were reversed and it was Bones on that floor, he would be just as terrified as Hodgins was now.

The paramedics arrived not too long after and loaded Angela on the stretcher before taking her out to the ambulance, Hodgins going right along with them. Booth looked at Bones for a minute before they both decided without saying a word that they were going to the hospital. On their way out, Cam didn't even bother stopping them, but instead told them to go and keep everyone updated back at the lab about what was wrong with Angela. He and Bones got into his SUV and followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital and parked quickly before running inside and finding where they had taken Angela and Hodgins. They weren't allowed back into triage, so they sat in the waiting room and waited to hear something.

Time passed slowly while they waited, but neither of them said a word to one another. Instead, Booth wordlessly comforted Bones as she paced the room back and forth, anxious to know _something_ about their friend's condition. He honestly hadn't seen her that worried since he went in for brain surgery, so he knew that she really cared. There wasn't a moment that he doubted it though. As she paced, he brought her coffee and finally took her hand to stop her, pulling her in.

"Angela is going to be fine. The doctors here are good and they'll figure out what's wrong with her," he said softly so only she could hear.

"I just worry Booth," she admitted. "She was just fine not even five minutes before that."

Booth hugged her close to him. "She's strong and the baby is strong. I felt it moving before they took her on the stretcher."

Bones nodded and rested her head against his shoulder for a moment before letting go and finding a chair nearby. He went and sat next to her while they waited longer still. After what seemed like an endless amount of waiting, Hodgins came through the triage doors. There was fear and anxiety written all over his face, so Booth knew that it was serious as he approached them. Booth stood with Bones and walked over to meet Hodgins halfway.

"It's Placenta previa," Hodgins said, somewhat grimly.

Bones only nodded, seemingly understanding what was going on right away. Then again, she was the genius.

"What is that?" Booth asked, completely out of the loop of what the hell Hodgins was talking about.

"The placenta has moved near or at the bottom of her uterus, near her cervix," Bones explained in a matter-of-fact voice. "Is it total previa or just partial?"

"Total," Hodgins replied. "They want to keep her here and see if they can get the bleeding to stop. If not, they have to deliver the baby via c-section as soon as possible."

"That prematurely?" Booth asked, knowing that Angela was only twenty-eight weeks along. His own son Parker had been born just two weeks early, but had been perfectly healthy at nearly eight pounds, but he was sure that Angela and Hodgins' baby was no where near that weight at all.

Hodgins nodded ominously. "They've already started a blood transfusion for Angela and are moving her up to the maternity floor to keep an eye on her. They've also started giving her corticosteroids to speed up the baby's lung development in case we have to deliver prematurely. She's awake, but very confused."

"Are we allowed to see her?" Bones asked, looking at Hodgins.

Hodgins nodded and lead them through the triage to an elevator to go up to the fourth floor maternity wing. He lead them to a private room and opened the door, revealing Angela in a hospital bed, hooked up to several monitors for her and the baby as well as an IV for blood transfusion and fluids. Angela looked over to see them walking in and sat up a little.

"Hey," she said softly as Hodgins went to her side.

Booth stood at the end of the bed while Bones went to her other side and hugged her gently. There were very few times he had seen her so caring, including when Zack was in the hospital after he blew up the lab. Bones had a heart that so few people accessed, but once they did, they were always there. Angela was one of those people and Booth knew that.

"So, this is one way to make things a little complicated huh?" Angela asked, giving a brief but fleeting smile.

"Yeah, you scared me to death," Booth agreed. "But I'm glad we got you here."

"Thanks Booth," Angela said. "You saved our lives…mine and the baby's."

Booth shook his head. "I just called the paramedics…they did all the real work."

"You still saved us."

Booth and Bones stayed up at the hospital for a while longer before deciding to let Angela get some rest. They told Hodgins to keep them updated if anything changed before stepping out of the room and going downstairs to the parking lot. They rode back to Bones' apartment in silence, both too wrapped up in their thoughts to even say anything to one another. Booth couldn't shake the thought of if that had been Bones he found on the floor like that. Even though he and Temperance had only been together for just over five months, he'd always had the dream of having a life and family with her, but after seeing something like that he was weary to even address that anymore. The thought of losing her or their child, should they have one in the future, was something he could not bring himself to. He knew that if something like that happened, he would not be able to live with himself after if anything happened that would make him lose one or both of the people he loved. But that was all scenarios in his head that he pushed away as he parked the SUV in his usual parking spot at Bones' apartment complex.

When they got inside and shut the door, Booth watched as Temperance went over to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge before pouring a glass. He knew from her quick actions that something was bothering her. Walking over, he sat down at the bar and looked at her for a moment, debating whether he should ask her outright what was wrong or wait for her to say something. After debating it for less than thirty seconds, he decided to break the silence.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. Why would you think something was wrong?" she asked in reply, somewhat defensively.

"You went straight for the alcohol the minute we walked in the door…I know you better than that," he said.

Bones stared at him for another minute, as if she was calculating her next move or figuring out how to get him off the topic. But he knew that she knew that it wasn't going to work either way. He knew her too well for that.

Sighing deeply, she gave in and put the wine glass down. "This whole thing with Angela. First her mother. And now this medical fiasco she has to endure. She is a good person…how does she deserve this?"

Booth rose from his seat and walked over to Bones, looking her in the eyes. "No one deserves this," he said. "But sometimes bad things happen to very good people. There isn't an explanation for it or a reason anyone can give that makes sense for it other than the world isn't fair."

"How do you live everyday believing in a God who can allow such awful things to happen to people like Angela and Hodgins?" she asked, glaring at him seriously.

"Because Bones, He is also the God that allows good things to happen in the wake of very bad things," he said. "Angela is in the hospital under the care of skilled doctors now. That is a good thing."

"She is only there because you found her lying unconscious on the floor," she quipped. "How is that in any way God's doing? You were the one who found her and called the paramedics."

"Maybe I was meant to go into her office and find her so I could get her the life-saving help she needed," he offered, knowing that Bones was never going to see eye-to-eye with him about his religion. Booth had been raised Catholic and believed in a lot of things, including God and faith that Bones didn't understand. But there was a mutual respect most of the time.

"I don't understand religion." Bones looked away from him and sat down at the bar for a moment, putting her head in her hands. Booth could tell that she was frustrated, so he didn't bring up any more topic of religion or God. That would be another argument for another time for the two of them to have.

"Angela is going to be okay and so is the baby," he said gently, sitting down next to her. She looked over at him with solidarity, as if she agreed with his statement without words of her own to offer.

"We should work harder on the case," she said. "The sooner we figure it out, the sooner it is no longer a stress to Angela. She can focus solely on herself and the baby's health."

Booth nodded in agreement. "We'll get this guy first thing tomorrow morning. I have my people tracking him and as soon as they get him, we will haul him in for questioning."

Temperance nodded and laid her head on Booth's shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her.

"We'll get this scum bag."

"I know we will Booth. I just hope it's soon."

Booth nodded and rested his head against the top of Bones' as he held her against his side. The simple act of comforting one another in their time of uncertainty made Booth realize exactly why he loved her so much. Even in the darkest of times, they were able to find a light at the end of the tunnel that they could go toward. A goal. If they could catch the murderer of Angela's mother, there would be some closure for their friend there and one less stress for her to deal with. That was what they needed. All of them.

**

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A/N: So here is another chapter in less than a week! I hope you all are liking this story and I can't thank you all enough for the reviews! Keep them coming and let me know how you like this so far! xoxo**


	13. Suspect

Two weeks passed after Angela was hospitalized, but they were not much closer to closing the investigation or catching the murderer. Booth had been working hard in tracking down their main suspect, a man named Preston James, but each time ended in a dead end at a deserted apartment or some car rental place. Brennan confined herself to the lab for a few days, looking for more about the murder weapon to point toward a specific type of pocket knife used. She and Daisy narrowed it down to a Victorinox Swiss Army pocket knife, which was issued to the army. Booth found out through records that Preston James was in the army before he got kicked out for robbery and his jail stints. After narrowing down the weapon, Brennan knew that she had nothing else she could do until they tracked down their suspect and had more to investigate with DNA clues or other physical evidence they were able to gather.

In between spending time at the lab and sleeping at home, Brennan went up to the hospital most every day to check on Angela. They stopped the bleeding and given her a blood transfusion to replace what she'd lost, but her condition was too fragile to release her, so they were keeping her there on bed rest until her delivery. Brennan could tell that it was stressful for Angela being in the hospital when she wanted to be home with Hodgins, preparing for their baby, so she did what she could to help out per Angela's instructions for the nursery design. And while she found that everything was in place, she felt inept in decorating a baby's room. Angela was better at that as she was the artist and Brennan knew that she would probably do more with it once she was well and out of the hospital after delivery.

Brennan sat in her office, looking over Lily Giovanni's X-Rays for the thousandth time. Her eyes were dry from looking at a computer screen for so long and she was developing a migraine headache over her sinuses, which was both annoying and inconvenient for her. As she focused on the screen, she didn't even notice someone come into her office.

"Hey Bones!" Booth greeted, clapping his hands together, causing her to jump in her chair and curse under her breath. "We got the guy in custody. Chop chop! Let's go!"

Yawning, Brennan looked at Booth and breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that their main suspect was in custody made her feel relieved and like they had done their job of bringing those guys off the streets.

"Where did you pick him up?" she asked.

"Just outside of Arizona," he replied. "Grand-theft auto and violation of his parole ought to hold him for a while in jail so we can question him all we want."

Nodding, Temperance got up from her chair and grabbed her coat before walking toward Booth, who joined her as they walked out of the door of her office and out of the lab. They went out to the SUV and got in before Booth started it up and drove off toward the FBI Building. Most of the drive over there was silent and somewhat ominous, like they knew what was coming for some reason. Brennan had always liked sitting in on interrogations with Booth before, but this was different because it was for Angela. She never expected a case to affect her so personally, other than her own mother's.

When they arrived at the FBI Building, Brennan got out and followed Booth inside before going upstairs to the interrogation room. They remained in the side room, behind the one-way glass, looking in on their suspect. Preston James was sitting anxiously in the interrogation room, bouncing his leg up and down. Brennan watched for a moment before hearing the door open and seeing Sweets walk in. It didn't surprise her that Booth had called in for his consult since Sweets was very good at what he did. Even if she didn't understand or respect Psychology as a field of study, she couldn't dispute some of Sweets' dead-on assessments of some of their suspects. Sweets stepped in and looked over at Preston through the glass, initially assessing him.

"He's definitely nervous," Sweets said, folding his arms in front of his chest. "He doesn't like being here because he feels threatened. Being in jail multiple times has made him anxious about the system. He's less likely to be cooperative."

"What about the murder?" Brennan asked, skipping to the pertinent question she wanted answers to. "Is he capable?"

In her mind, Brennan knew that all humans were capable of that sort of violence, but most had a filter for it. Human beings were all somewhat brutal to one another. She had seen it time and again in third world countries. The mass graves she had sifted through and identified bodies from. Bodies of men, women, and children that were all innocent of any crime other than existing.

"It's hard to tell without observing him during the entire interrogation," Sweets replied. "I'll listen in and Booth has an earpiece for questions."

Brennan nodded before going into the room with Booth. They shut the door and took their seats across the table from the man. It was difficult not to reach across the table and deck him right then and there, but Brennan restrained herself. She hated jumping to conclusions about anything without facts, but part of her felt as though she knew. She knew, but she wanted proof. Cold, hard, concrete proof that would prove Preston James murdered her best friend's mother. As they sat there and the silence filled the room, Brennan glanced over as Booth seemed to be sizing him up as a man.

"You know why you're here, right?" he finally asked, folding his hands on the table while glaring at the suspect.

"I…uh…I stole a car?" Preston asked in reply, nervously. "Look, I got this thing called kleptomania…means I still shit impulsively. I can't help that. I've been trying to get help, but nothing works."

"You violated your parole Preston," Booth curtly replied, paying no mind to the suspect's excuses for his thievery. "_And_ you stole a car."

"Shouldn't that be something that my parole officer takes care of…not the FBI?" Preston inquired, scoffing slightly.

Booth slammed his hands on the interrogation room table. "Do not get an attitude with me, Mr. James. I will nail your ass to the wall."

"Believe me, he will," Brennan piped up, feeling the tenseness of the situation.

The suspect seemingly settled after a minute, resting his hands on the table. Brennan looked down to see a watch on his right wrist. She thought nothing of it at first until she noticed that it was a gold Rolex. Glaring at it closely, she began to study its features while Booth continued questioning Preston about why he'd broke parole and the stolen car. She knew he wasn't diving right into accusations until they could prove something. While Booth questioned him, she glared closer at the watch for a few minutes. There was something about that watch that was off that she wanted to study.

"Hey lady," Preston said, snapping Brennan out of her trance. "You gonna glare at my watch all day or what?"

At that moment, Brennan watched as Booth slammed his fist into the table. "Her name is Dr. Brennan and you will address her as such. You got that, scum bag?"

Brennan ignored the alpha male response, even though it was somewhat of a turn on, and looked over at the watch. "I want to see your watch. Please remove it and hand it to me."

Her request was simple enough and with Booth glaring at him, Preston complied and unsnapped the watch before handing it over to Brennan, who took it and turned it to face her. The glass of the watch had been replaced recently, but the original face was still intact. Looking at it, she saw the second hand ticking backward and her breath hitched. Turning it over, she saw the etching in the back. It was Latin. _Dues vigilo super nos._ God watches over us. She slowly handed the watch to her partner to look at the back before leaning in and whispering.

"It runs backwards," she said. "Just like the watch the shop owner described."

Booth nodded to both the watch and her statement before turning his attention to Preston James, who was looking a hell of a lot more nervous than he had two minutes ago.

"Where were you on the night of March fifteenth, two-thousand and one?" Booth bluntly asked, staring down Preston with a glare that told him this was now serious.

"Man, I don't remember where I was two weeks ago, what makes you think that I remember where I was some specific night ten years ago?" Preston asked sharply in reply.

"Think…think real hard Preston," Booth replied curtly. Brennan knew this tactic well. He was playing a mind game with the suspect. There were times when you could scare a confession out of someone, but she couldn't tell if this guy was one of those or not. She wasn't a people reader like Booth was.

"I dunno," Preston repeated, emphasizing his ignorance.

"We have your DNA at a murder scene from ten years ago in downtown DC near a pawn shop," Booth smoothly said, pushing the folder with the results in front of Preston. "Explain that one."

Preston James looked absolutely stunned, like this was all new information to him, which made Brennan want to deck him one right then and there. Guys like him were the reason she got tired of working murders day in and day out, but they were also the reason she kept working at it…to make sure they were behind bars for good.

"That is some serious bullshit. I didn't kill nobody," he replied defensively, shoving the folder away. "This has got to be some set up."

"Why do you have the victim's watch that she purchased the night of the murder?" Brennan interjected.

"That could be any watch. You don't know it was the person's for sure!"

"Oh yes we do," Booth said. "This watch is real special. It doesn't run forward like all other watches…and this etching on the back in Latin? Exactly what the shop owner told us it would be. So, you want to start talking now about the night Lily Giovanni was murdered or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" When Preston said nothing, Booth glared at him. "I'm waiting for an answer."

"I ain't sayin' nothing else til I talk to a lawyer," he finally said bluntly, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in the chair.

Booth sighed. "They always say that."

Booth had the deputy come back in and escort Preston back to his jail cell while they left the interrogation room to go talk with Sweets, who had observed everything. Everything that had just happened was beginning to form solid proof in Brennan's mind that Preston was the man they were looking for, but she wanted more evidence to stand on. The watch and the DNA was a huge jump start, but she wanted another leg to stand on. What she wanted was the murder weapon to match to the wounds Lily suffered and somehow link it to Mr. James in a way that was indisputable. Temperance Brennan didn't believe in being sure one hundred percent in anything, but she wanted to believe without a doubt about the murderer who killed Angela's mother. As they walked into the side room with Sweets, they both looked to him for an explanation of sorts.

"He's totally hiding something," Sweets said, putting his hands in his pockets. "His body language was tense and rigid during the entire interview. And when Dr. Brennan asked for the watch, he was hesitant to give it to her."

"You think he did it?" Booth asked flat out.

"Initially, I'd say he did or he is covering for someone else," Sweets replied. "But there's something interesting about the watch itself. The way he handed it to Dr. Brennan so gently, like it was a great treasure."

"Like a prize of some sort?" Brennan asked. "You think it might be a trophy of some sort that he kept after the murder?" That was a sick, twisted thing to think about, but Brennan knew that things like that existed in the world. There were indigenous tribes that kept the teeth of their enemies killed in battle or displayed the skulls of their conquests to show their power. America was no different in a sense.

"What if he kept the watch as a signifier that he had done something that made him feel powerful?" Sweets asked. "His kleptomania makes him feel out of control, so by doing something that makes him feel in control, it balances his rationality."

"That makes no sense," Brennan interrupted. "The murder was not something he planned obviously. The attack on Lily Giovanni was messy and unlike someone who planned to kill another human being."

"He might not have planned to kill her, but by taking control of the situation when she fought back as he tried to steal her watch, he would feel like he had control of what was happening. The situation spiraled out of control, so he put it back in his own hands."

Brennan nodded, unable to find anything to say at the present as her mind absorbed everything that had just happened. She needed to get back to the lab and work on finding more evidence. That was what she was best at and where she was needed most.

"I should get back to the lab and look for more evidence," she said, looking at Booth, who nodded. "Thank you Sweets."

Brennan and Booth left the FBI Building and started back toward the lab, Temperance more determined than ever to solve this case. She was going to figure it out before it drove her crazy.

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**A/N: Thank you so much for all the positive feedback! I've gotten a lot of story alerts and favorites, but the best part for me is a review. Those really make my day and help me write faster! Love you all!**

**I started back to school this week, so its a little crazy balancing it with work now. I'm hoping to continue writing these updates faster for you guys! Bare with me as I continue on and I hope to make you happy. Leave a review and let me know!**


	14. Friendship

Angela sat up in her hospital bed, looking over at the monitors that were keeping track of her baby's heart rate as well as her own. Everything looked strong, which was a relief to her mind. The past four weeks had been nothing but hell to her as she sat in the hospital all day with nothing to do but wait and be taken care of by doctors and nurses while her friends tried to solve the murder of her mother. The goal was to get her pregnancy to at least thirty-five weeks before they had to deliver the baby. And at thirty-two weeks, she was stable and continuing to progress, but she was growing bored out of her mind sitting in a hospital every day and night. Hodgins was there all the time when he wasn't at work or getting things done at home, which Angela adored and appreciated about her husband. He was probably the most devoted husband anyone had ever seen and she loved him all the more for it.

Her mother's case had progressed a lot over the past two weeks after Booth and Brennan had brought in Preston James for questioning. His DNA matched the samples taken at the crime scene that were mixed with her mother's blood and the watch was exactly the same one that they had been looking for. The shop keeper confirmed it was the watch he had sold to her mother nine years previously. They were also able to hold Preston since he had violated his parole and stole a car, which was good news for Booth and Brennan since it gave them time to build their case and figure out if he was the murderous bastard they were looking for.

Looking around the room, she found her sketch pad on the rolling table and pulled it off, opening it to a blank page to draw. Drawing was something she did a lot of these days. Sketches, mini paintings, and outlines of things were about all she could do in the confines of a hospital bed, but it had kept her somewhat occupied. Most of her sketches and paintings were of flowers or other things she could use in the room to sit in front of her. Occasionally, she'd even draw Hodgins when he was asleep in the room with her. Other times, she would draw what she imagined their daughter would look like based on her features and Hodgins'. Most of the drawings had a little girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes, but she just was using her imagination.

As she drew, she thought about how much she hoped that she would be able to carry their daughter far enough so she could be delivered safely. Her prayer was that the doctors would tell her that nothing was wrong when they delivered. All she wanted was a healthy baby and as easy a delivery as they could manage. Her attention diverted as she heard the door open and saw Brennan walking in. It was good to see a familiar face. She needed her best friend to be there every once in a while, if not for anything else but the company.

"Hey sweetie," Angela said, smiling and putting down her sketch pad.

"Hey Ange, how are you feeling?" Brennan asked, setting her bag down and sitting in the chair by Angela's bed.

"Doing okay," she replied. "The doctor said that the baby and I are doing good, so I assume nothing's wrong at the moment. One less thing to fall apart in my life."

Brennan laughed awkwardly for a moment before looking down at her lap. Angela could tell that something was a little off with her best friend. Normally, she had to get Brennan to shut up most of the time, but today she was awfully quiet. Something was definitely up and she needed to know what that was. She might've been pregnant, but she definitely hadn't gone stupid or blind in the time she'd been in the hospital. Angela knew Brennan better than anyone, aside from Booth, but that was a different story entirely that she didn't want to even go into.

"Something's up," she said, looking at Brennan directly. "You're too quiet. Is something wrong in the case? Was the James guy not the one? You can tell me if it's that…I need to know."

Brennan shook her head. "Oh, it's nothing to do with the case at all actually. Booth and I are still working on it, so you have nothing to worry about." She was now avoiding the question and Angela could tell.

"Okay, then what's wrong…you're not yourself today." There would be no use asking in a round about way, since Brennan most likely wouldn't get that anyways.

"Booth had Parker this weekend," Brennan replied, looking at Angela. "We all spent time together, mostly at the park and I took Parker on a tour of the museum…the parts he wanted to see in particular. We spent a lot of time in the Egyptology department and Paleontology as well."

"What's wrong with that?" she asked, wondering why in the world anything would be wrong with hanging out with Parker. "I thought he loved spending time in the museum with you." As far as Angela was concerned, he was a great kid that acted just like Booth. If she and Hodgins ever had a son, she hoped he would be as energetic and fun as Parker.

"Nothing was wrong with spending time with him. He's a great child and very intelligent for his age…he just asked me a question I was not prepared for," Brennan answered, scrunching her nose slightly.

"And?" Angela nudged, realizing she was going to have to prod this out of her best friend. Getting information out of Brennan sometimes was like trying to get into some high security corporation…nearly impossible.

"He asked when his father and I were going to give him a little brother or sister," she finally said, almost painfully.

Angela started to laugh, knowing that she probably shouldn't in this situation, but she just found it so humorous that a ten-year-old child would know more about when his parents should give him a sibling than the parents did. Even if Brennan technically was not Parker's step-mom, she was close enough to be since she had known him nearly all of his life and he adored her. Angela saw that a mile off. Parker was a smart kid and knew exactly who his father had been in love with all along.

"Angela…I don't see the humor in that at all," Brennan said, arching her eyebrows seriously.

"Bren…sweetie, that _is_ funny," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because I could've told you that was coming years ago," she said, still giggling. "Parker has always known how his dad felt about you, so it's only natural that he would want siblings from that relationship. His mom has had so many boyfriends through the years, but you've been constant in his father's life."

"But Booth and I weren't even together before a few months ago. How could Parker attach himself when I wasn't even his father's girlfriend?" Brennan asked.

Rubbing her stomach, Angela smiled. "Kids are a lot more intuitive than we give them credit for Bren. They see things that adults sometimes don't get for years. Parker probably knew years ago that his dad never had girlfriends for a reason…and that reason was you."

"You're saying Booth never dated because he was in love with me?" Brennan asked, looking Angela directly in the eyes.

"As if it wasn't obvious from the moment he met you?" Angela retorted, laughing a little. "He's been that way from the very beginning sweetie…the whole time it was you for him."

Brennan nodded after a moment, seemingly understanding what Angela was telling her, like she had known the entire time but just had the moment where it all came together for her. For years, Angela had known her best friend loved Booth as more than just a partner like she always claimed to when anyone asked if she and Booth were dating. After everything her best friend had come through over the years, she deserved a little happiness in her life; something she had only seen when Brennan was with Booth. He made her light up like nothing else in the world, even if he was only coming to talk to her. Angela was thankful for Booth being in Brennan's life many times over because he got her out of the lab and into the world.

"There are things that I want Ange, but I've never really allowed myself to have," Brennan said, taking a deep breath. "A family is one of them. I had one. My parents were good people that loved me and Russ, but they left. After my parents disappeared when I was fifteen and Russ left, I just…I never wanted to be a part of something that could easily hurt me again." She looked down for a moment at her hands that were folded in her lap. "Fifteen years later, my father and brother came back into my life and suddenly, I had a family again. Now Booth…I just never thought I would…"

"You never thought you would get the chance to find happiness because of all that you went through growing up," Angela finished her sentence. "Well I can tell you that you do deserve happiness Bren. You deserve it and have found it. When I see you with Booth, you are lit up like the fourth of July."

"I don't know what that means," Brennan said, laughing a little and looking up.

"It means that you smile a lot when you're with him. He makes you laugh and brings out the best in you."

Brennan gave a crooked smile, like she knew that Angela was right. "I know."

There was a small pause between the two of them before Angela looked over at the monitor that was showing the baby's heartbeat. The past two weeks had been so scary for her and she kept a constant eye on her daughter's monitors for any small sign that something was going wrong. It was draining, but Angela knew that it was part of being a mother. Looking out for her child was her job and if anything ever happened to her, she would not be able to forgive herself because she didn't do something to prevent it. Looking up at Brennan, she smiled softly.

"So, what did you tell Parker?" she asked, continuing on the conversation from before.

"What?" Brennan asked, taken off guard.

"When he asked when you and Booth would give him a sibling, what did you say?" Angela corrected herself, knowing that Brennan needed clarity most of the time when someone asked her a question that wasn't directly related to science.

"Oh…I told him that his father and I had not discussed the possibility of children yet," Brennan replied.

"But are you considering it?" Angela asked, arching one eyebrow curiously at her best friend. "I mean, you had thought about it two years ago before Booth had brain surgery. You even asked him to be a sperm donor at one point."

"I know Ange," Brennan said, biting her bottom lip. "But Booth and I have not discussed the possibility of children. We are still just getting used to being in a relationship."

"Are you thinking about it though?" she asked, eyeing her friend suspiciously. "Like, seriously considering it?"

"I've given it thought," Brennan said, breathing deeply.

"And?" Angela prodded.

"I would like a child, with Booth."

Angela clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh a little baby Booth! He or she is going to be so cute…when you guys do decide to try to get pregnant that is. Wait…you are going to do that the right way?"

"What right way is that Angela?" Brennan inquired.

"You know…you get all naked with Booth and devour each other in a passionate frenzy of lovemaking that creates a baby," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone that Brennan would easily understand.

"Of course. The baby would be made by sexual intercourse between Booth and myself." Brennan smiled like she knew there was a lot more to that statement than she was leading on, but Angela wasn't going to ask right then. That would be a conversation for later when Angela wasn't stuck in a hospital bed, waiting on her own daughter to be delivered in less than eight weeks.

"Good," she said, laughing and grinning at her best friend. "You guys are going to have really cute babies…when that happens."

Brennan nodded and smiled before they talked for a few more minutes about how Angela's daughter was doing and what the doctors were saying about her prognosis for the Placenta Previa. The doctors were hoping to get her to thirty-five weeks before delivery was absolutely necessary. After talking for a while, Brennan left to go back to the Jeffersonian and Angela was left to herself in the hospital until Hodgins would get off work. She went back to her drawing that she had started before and finished it. Once she was done, she put aside her sketch book and laid back, falling asleep in a matter of a minutes, content that she was okay for the moment and her baby was not in any danger.

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**A/N: Thank you all SO much for your reviews! Keep them coming please! This is just a little interlude chapter between Angela and Brennan, since they're good friends. Enjoy and let me know what you think!**


	15. Welcome To The World

Booth stared at the man across from him in the interrogation room, knowing that they had the evidence that would slam him against the wall. After a drug out investigation of his apartment and vehicles, they had found the murder weapon and positively identified it against the evidence they already had, including a positive DNA match on the blade. Booth was honestly surprised that they were able to find any on it after almost ten years, but modern science coupled with stupid criminals made it all too easy. However, Booth wanted him to own up to his crime because this was personal. This man had murdered Angela's mother and deserved to get his ass kicked over it in Booth's opinion, but since he was an FBI agent, he couldn't do that. However, he could sure as hell give him a go round in the interrogation room. Thankfully, Bones wasn't here today. She was at the hospital with Angela, who was now thirty-five weeks pregnant and possibly delivering in the very near future.

Looking at Preston James, Booth sat back in his chair and eyed the man up and down as if he were sizing him up. Preston had a smirk on his face, like he figured Booth had nothing on him and they would be releasing him today from prison. However, Booth was about to crush that dream into tiny pieces that would fly everywhere and could not be put back together again.

"So, something you wanna tell me Agent Booth?" Preston cockily asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Yeah, but before I do…you sure there isn't something you wanna tell me about that night almost ten years ago?" he retorted curtly.

Preston looked as though he honestly thought about it for a moment, albeit sarcastically, before replying. "Nope. Not a thing. So…what's new?"

"How about the fact that we found the murder weapon in your apartment?" he inquired, slamming down a case file that had the photo of the pocket knife on top. He slid it across the table to Preston.

"You can't prove that's my knife or if it was ever used on someone," Preston said, scoffing and shrugging off the photo.

"Oh, we can…and we did," Booth said angrily. "We found traces of Lily Giovanni's DNA on it along with yours. So, you wanna tell me what happened that night or am I going to have to assume the worst?"

"I did nothing wrong."

"You killed someone, you selfish bastard!" Booth said, raising his voice. "You took someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's friend. You don't think that's wrong?"

"I didn't do anything and you can use your little science lab all you want, but you can't prove it!"

Booth didn't hesitate as he reached across the table and grabbed Preston by the collar, pulling him down to the cold metal table. His temper was out the window and he was definitely glad that no one else was in the interrogation room with him.

"I know that you killed Lily Giovanni and I make it a habit and career of taking down scum like you. My little _science lab_ is going to prove that you murdered that innocent woman and when we go to trial, your ass will be slammed. So, Preston James, you're under arrest for the murder of Lily Giovanni. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, the court will appoint one to you." After reading the Miranda rights to him, Booth cuffed the guy before escorting him out of the room and back to his jail cell to be transported to prison to await his trail.

Leaving the bastard in jail, he went back to his office and wrote down a couple of things that he needed to get done before the end of the week as far as paperwork went. The next step would be getting ready for the trial, but that would take a while. After signing off on some of the paperwork, he dropped it off at the appropriate office. Once that was done, he left the FBI building and heard his phone going off in his pocket.

"Booth," he said, answering it.

"Booth, you need to get down to the hospital as fast as you can," the voice on the other end said. "They're taking Angela into surgery to deliver the baby by c-section today."

He knew that it was Bones just by her voice. "I'm on my way," he replied quickly. "I'll be there in less than fifteen minutes."

Hanging up the phone, he got his keys out and got into his SUV before starting the ignition and pulling out of the parking lot onto the street. The drive to the hospital didn't take long and he was there in ten minutes. Getting out, he locked the doors and ran into the hospital and up to the maternity floor. Walking out of the elevator, he was greeted by Bones who ran over to him to catch him up on the details.

"The baby's heart rate dropped, so they decided to deliver her early," she explained. "They didn't want to take any chances with Angela's condition."

"Is Hodgins in there with her?" he asked, hoping she wasn't alone.

"Yes, he's been here since this morning," she replied. "The doctors said that the baby should be fine. They checked her by ultrasound yesterday and said that her size was decent."

Booth nodded. "How long is the surgery?"

"It shouldn't take more than an hour and we'll be allowed back into the room within an hour after." Bones put her hands in her pockets after a moment.

"We could go get something to eat while we wait if you want to…to help pass time," he offered, knowing it would take her mind off the worry she felt for Angela.

She nodded and agreed, so they went down to the cafeteria of the hospital to find something to eat for lunch. They chatted about how good parents Angela and Hodgins would be and briefly about the case. Booth mentioned his interrogation with Preston and how it hadn't really gotten anywhere at all and sure as hell didn't get a confession. Despite his disappointment, he was glad that they had found the evidence to convict him and hoped that the trial wouldn't drag on too long before they put him behind bars permanently. After discussing that for a while, they talked about her upcoming book release, which she was excited about. She mentioned that she had written all the sex scenes herself, without any help from Angela. Booth chuckled and smiled when she mentioned that he was the inspiration for those scenes.

After they stayed down there nearly an hour, they decided to go back up to the waiting room on the maternity floor. They sat down and waited less than five minutes before Hodgins came out of the surgery wing, taking off his scrub cap with a ridiculous smile on his face. Booth knew that everything was just fine by that goofy smile. It was the same one he wore the day Parker was born. He and Bones stood and walked over to Hodgins.

"Beautiful, healthy little girl," Hodgins said, beaming with pride. "Five pounds, seven ounces and eighteen inches long. She is absolutely beautiful, just like Angela."

Booth hugged Hodgins and smiled. "Congratulations man," he said, shaking his hand as well. Fatherhood was something you couldn't understand until it happened to you. He was sure that Hodgins was going to be a great father.

Temperance gave her congratulations to Hodgins as well, hugging him before asking how Angela was doing. Hodgins said that the surgery had gone well and that they were moving both her and the baby back to the room, so they could come in after a few more minutes. He disappeared to the room after that, leaving Booth and Bones in the waiting room. Today was one of those days where nothing could possibly bring you down from the high you were on.

After a little while, Hodgins came back to bring them to the room. Booth followed Temperance and Hodgins to the room, opening the door to reveal Angela sitting up in the bed with a little pink bundle in her arms. She instantly lit up and smiled at them. Bones went over to her side and Booth watched as Angela revealed the tiny face in the blankets. The baby had a lot of jet black hair and a tiny, button nose that was more than adorable. Angela winced as she moved up further, but Booth knew that it was from the surgery.

"What's her name?" Booth asked, standing beside Bones.

"Bren," Angela replied, looking up at Bones with a smile. "Bren Marie Hodgins."

Bones looked shocked for a moment before Booth swore he saw a few tears in her eyes, but she would never admit to that. "You named her after me?" she asked, somewhat shocked.

Angela nodded and smiled warmly. "We wanted to name her after someone special and you are my best friend, so we thought it fit her perfectly. And Marie was my mother's middle name, so I wanted to honor her that way," Angela explained proudly.

"That is a beautiful name Ange," Temperance replied softly. Booth nodded in agreement. It was a sweet gesture that he knew Bones appreciated more than anyone knew.

Everyone gawked at the tiny baby in Angela's arms with utter fascination and awe. Booth remembered when Parker was born and how proud he was to have a son. He was just proud to have a kid, period. Now his son was ten-years-old and pretty much the coolest kid Booth knew, which just wasn't because he was his son, but because Parker was just an amazing kid. He was smart and funny, which Booth knew was just his personality shining through.

"Do you want to hold her, Brennan?" Angela asked after a few minutes, looking over at Temperance.

"Um…are you sure?" Bones asked hesitantly. "It's been a while since I've held a baby…and she is just so small."

"Yes, I'm sure," Angela replied, smiling. "I know you're a natural. I saw the way you held baby Andy."

Nodding slowly, Bones stepped forward and took the tiny baby in her arms. Booth watched in awe as the woman he loved held this little newborn baby girl for the first time. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Bones was a natural. Angela was right about that for sure. Then again, he'd always known that she would be a good mother when the time was right.

"She is so perfect," Bones murmured, sitting down in the chair beside Angela's bed with Bren in her arms. "She looks a lot like you Ange…I have to say your genes were definitely dominant over Hodgins'."

Booth laughed. "Well, at least Hodgins knows what to prepare for when she hits the teenage years. I'm guessing that shotgun might be a good idea."

Angela giggled and held her stomach. "Oh god, let's just hope she's not like I was at that age…otherwise Hodgins and I will never get any sleep. We'll always be worrying about her."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Hodgins asked, looking at Angela questioningly.

"Nothing darling," Angela replied sarcastically, winking at him.

Everyone laughed and continued to talk for a while longer, until Booth knew that Angela was getting tired. Deciding it was a good idea to let the new parents rest, he and Bones said their goodbyes and left the hospital to go back to her apartment. They said little on the way there, both too in awe of the little miracle that had just come into the world. Hodgins and Angela were incredibly blessed to have a healthy daughter after all they had come through with Angela's condition and Booth knew that she would be happy to finally go home after over six weeks in the hospital on bed rest. He thanked God silently for the safe and healthy delivery of baby Bren. The last thing Hodgins and Angela needed was a sick baby after all they had gone through in the last six weeks or so since she was admitted to the hospital.

When they arrived at Bones' apartment, Booth followed her up as usual and shut the door behind her before turning around. Bones was smiling at him and he smiled back warmly, knowing that today had been a good day. Walking over to her, he placed his hand on her hip and guided her closer to him, kissing her softly. Her hands found the sides of his face and pulled him as close to her as possible as they kissed. It deepened when she brushed her tongue over his bottom lip before he granted her access to his mouth while exploring hers as well. They had solved the case and their friend had safely brought a baby girl into the world. This was cause for joy, which Booth had plenty of as he kissed Bones and held her in his arms. When she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes with her piercing cerulean orbs, he knew that he would give her anything.

Her hands found their way under his shirt and discarded it before their lips met once more. Booth unbuttoned her shirt slowly as they walked toward the bedroom, everything else forgotten. Pushing her shirt off her shoulders, he kissed the bare skin there and pushed down her bra straps slowly. Her fingers worked their magic and unbuckled his belt and successfully unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Within a matter of minutes, they were down to their undergarments and on the bed. Booth kissed the side of Bones' neck, making her moan softly under his touch as his hands caressed her sides. She whimpered as their lips met and he pulled her closer.

"I need you," she whispered softly. Those three little words were only something she uttered when they were alone and together. They were a privelege to hear each and every time she chose to say them.

Booth removed the last remaining pieces of clothing between them before settling between her legs, gently pushing them apart. Looking into her beautiful blue eyes, he entered her slowly and steadily until he was all the way in. Her eyes closed in pleasure as he pulled out and pushed all the way back in, causing her to gasp. Over the past seven months, he had shown her what it meant to make love to someone. She had been willing to learn under his guiding hands and he had been more than willing to teach the woman he loved what it meant for two people to really become one. And they were really one together.

His strokes became quicker as they continued to make love, his lips finding hers and effectively silencing her whimpers and moans. When he knew she was getting close, he strove to lengthen his strokes to make her feel more while holding out himself. She cried out as she was pushed over the edge and he followed not too soon after. He collapsed, both of them covered in sweat and brushed some of her hair back gently as he rolled over and brought her with him, still inside of her. She laid on his chest and looked up into his eyes.

"I love you, Booth," she softly said.

He looked at her for a moment, unbelieving of what he had just heard. She had never admitted that she loved him before. He wanted to pinch himself to make sure it wasn't a dream, but this was real. He was here. And the love of his life had just admitted the one thing she had said over and over didn't exist.

"I love you too, Temperance," he said, using her full name. "Always have."

She didn't argue with him, but instead her lips found his once more before resting her head against his chest. His arms wrapped around her and stroked her back. This was perfection. Booth had finally found it after years of searching. Bones was the one he was meant to be with all along and he'd known that. There was nothing better than this moment.

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**A/N: So, I special rushed this chapter for one reason...my twin is having a really bad night. This chapter is dedicated to Lea, who is my twin and best friend!**

**All of the reviews so far have really made my day. I was having a bad morning and woke up to 5 reviews that really made me smile. Thank you all so much! I hope you love this chapter and the baby's name. :)  
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	16. Merry Christmas

Brennan sat in her office, looking at the screen of her computer. She had been working on a new novel for a few weeks and the progress was a lot slower than she would have liked. It had been almost eight weeks since Angela and Hodgins had brought their daughter home from the hospital and little Bren was flourishing beautifully under her parents' watchful eyes. Bren had gorgeous blue eyes like Hodgins' that could make you stop right where you were and stare as well as a head full of dark hair that contrasted the brightness of her eyes sharply. Angela had commented more than once that her daughter looked a little like her mother, but only at a glance. Brennan also noticed that the baby had Angela's nose and hands. She was proud to have such a gorgeous godchild and couldn't wait to see her grow up right before her eyes.

Angela had returned to work from her maternity leave, but Brennan had made sure that she was able to keep baby Bren close by, insisting to Cam that setting up the playpen in Angela's office would be just fine. Her friend was one of those women that could work and be a mom at the same time, balancing both with grace and ease. Hodgins also appreciated having his daughter close by to keep an eye on her as well as the opportunity to stop by and spoil her whenever he had the chance. Everyone went back to work and had closed another case on a three-year-old murder of a man that worked with the drug cartels in the DC area as an undercover agent. They spent a few days undercover themselves, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for their line of work. As usual, Brennan and Booth solved the case using her irrefutable skills as an anthropologist and his intuition as an FBI agent.

It was Christmas Eve, which was usually Brennan's least favorite time of the year, but this year was a little different since she and Booth were spending it together and he happened to have Parker this year. She stared at her computer screen for another minute, knowing that Booth would be there soon to pick her up to take her back to his place. Her latest book was about Kathy taking a trip to a third world country to identify some remains for a royal family, but she couldn't bring herself to let Kathy leave Andy behind in the United States. People had accused her for years of her main characters being based off of herself and Booth, but until this moment, she had denied it over and over again. However, staring at the screen and the words displayed across them of a scene where Kathy and Andy were arguing about her leaving, it truly dawned on her that they were herself and Booth in some fictional form. That realization made her smile to herself a little. The past eight months were proof that she could love someone and allow herself to be loved. Booth was the man she had always loved all along.

"You ready to go Bones?"

The voice at the door startled her as she turned and saw Booth standing there with Parker beside him. Parker was looking more like his dad each day, which made Brennan smile inwardly. He was a great child and she couldn't think of a better man for Parker to turn out like than his father.

"Yeah, let's go Bones!" Parker echoed his father's enthusiasm. "Hurry up slow-poke!"

Laughing, she saved the documents of her book and closed out the files before shutting her computer down. "Now I am," she replied, standing from her seat and grabbing her coat from behind the chair.

Walking over to Booth and Parker, she started walking out of the door. Parker darted in front of them and went straight for the doors of the lab. As she and Booth walked out behind, she felt Booth's hand slide into her own and smiled. She had never been one for anything couple-like in the workplace, but this was after hours and it was Christmas, so she didn't mind at all.

"Parker seems really excited," she said as they walked out to the parking lot from the Jeffersonian.

"I told him he was allowed to open one present early this year," Booth replied, chuckling. "But I didn't tell him that I am picking which one he opens."

Brennan laughed and smiled. "So he thinks he'll get to open the biggest one tonight?" She smiled and thought of when she and Russ were kids. They always argued over who got to open the biggest present first since their parents never labeled them to keep everything a secret. She would always try to figure out how her parents categorized the presents by what color wrapping paper was used or even where they were placed under the tree, but never figured it out.

"Oh he always thinks that, even on Christmas morning," he replied. "He always goes for the biggest one first, even though he knows I don't let him open it until last."

"My brother and I were the same way when we were kids," she said, smiling softly at Booth as they reached the SUV and got inside.

The ride back to Booth's apartment was filled with Parker's excitement about actually getting to open a present earlier than he was supposed to. Brennan smiled at his enthusiasm and loved how his childlike nature was still present, even at ten-years-old when most children stopped really believing in childish things. She still remembered how she had loved Christmas as a child, up until her parents disappeared. The holidays were always happy times around her home, especially because her mother got into everything for her and Russ. Since her father and brother had come back, Brennan had felt more festive in recent years, but this would probably be the best Christmas she'd had in more than fifteen years.

Her thoughts drifted for a few minutes to the Christmas everyone had spent quarantined in the lab. She had seen a whole other side of Booth then, including finding out that he had a son. That year, she opened the very last gifts her parents had ever left for her as well, which had been both emotional and healing in a way. But now, six years later, everything was different and better in so many ways. Temperance Brennan was no longer alone.

When they arrived back at the apartment, Parker rushed right upstairs and waited for Brennan and his father to join him before they opened the door and he darted for the tree that was set up in the living room. Plugging in the lights, Parker stepped back and admired the work they had all done together a few days prior. The room was softly lit with the white glow from the Christmas tree and the outlines of the ornaments were visible. Parker had made a few from school that they added as well as some that Brennan had bought together with Booth when they got the lights and tree topper.

While Parker bounced up and down, Brennan went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate for them. She listened as Booth and Parker negotiated which present he would open first, with Parker doing most of the negotiating while Booth more or less turned down every argument. A small laugh escaped her lips as she listened to father and son, wondering who was really going to win in the end. Parker was an exceptionally intelligent child for his age, so he might've weaseled his father into getting his way without Booth realizing it. But then again, Booth knew people better than anyone.

As she put the water on the stove, she put the mix in the coffee mugs. It didn't take long before the water was hot enough and she poured it into the three glasses before adding whipped cream to all three and cinnamon to hers. Taking them out into the living room, she set them on the table before taking a seat next to Booth.

"Alright buddy," Booth said, nodding to his son. "You get to open the gold present that is right on top of that green one by the wall. That's the only one for tonight though. The rest you have to wait until morning for."

Parker nodded and went directly to the gift that Booth had pointed out. Booth leaned back on the couch and Brennan sat next to him to watch Parker open his present. The wrapping paper came off quickly and she watched the look on the little boy's face light up as he opened the box to reveal a hockey puck that had been signed by one of his favorite teams. Booth had spent weeks hunting it down and finally had found it about a week and a half prior.

"This is so cool Dad!" Parker cried excitedly, examining the puck over and over again.

"I'm glad you like it bud. I made sure that it was exactly the right team before I got it," Booth explained.

"Brian is gonna be so jealous when we go back to school and I tell him what I got!"

"Well keep that in a safe place because it'll be worth something someday when you're a lot older." Booth smiled at his son.

Parker kept on looking at the puck with all of the signatures before coming over to the table and drinking his hot chocolate. The conversation went on about hockey for a while since Parker's season would start after Christmas. Booth asked him about games and when they would be so that he could come watch and support him as well as asking if Rebecca was going to record the games he couldn't make it to. Brennan knew that Booth was more than proud of his son and she was glad that they were able to share the love of a sport they both played. Father and son bonding was something that was important beyond anthropologically speaking. Parker would learn the necessary things about being a man from his father and Brennan knew that Booth was an excellent role model.

Once the hot chocolate was gone, Booth and Parker did the dishes before Parker went off to bed, leaving her and Booth to themselves. This was her first real holiday to spend with someone else, so she wasn't really all that certain what to do. When Booth returned to the living room, she made room for him on the couch before leaning against his side and covering her legs with a throw blanket. She thought about what lay ahead in the future and smiled. Because this was their first Christmas together, she and Booth had agreed not to exchange gifts to one another, but instead go on a vacation together. Their flight to Hawaii would leave two days after Christmas and they would spend nearly two weeks there, just relaxing and spending time together. Admittedly, Brennan was a little more excited about it than she would ever tell anyone. She knew that she would bring her laptop just in case inspiration hit for another part of her new novel, but otherwise she was going to be a relaxed woman.

The clock nearby dinged when it was midnight and she looked up at Booth just as he kissed her.

"Merry Christmas Bones," he said softly.

"Merry Christmas Booth," she replied.

Looking into his eyes, she smiled softly for a moment before kissing him again. It was a soft kiss, but full of love and tenderness nonetheless. When he broke it, she smiled softly at him.

"I wish you would have let me give you something small," he said.

"Well…technically, you did," she said, giving him one of her crooked smiles that she knew he loved.

Booth raised one eyebrow curiously. "I'm not following. Explanation?"

"I'm pregnant, Booth," she replied, biting her lower lip to keep from smiling so much at once.

**

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A/N: PLEASE don't kill me! But this is the end of this fic. I PROMISE that there is a sequel, which I have already started to write. :) It does not have a title yet, but I promise that it will be up soon! Review and let me know what you think!**


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